I Used to Love Pterodactyls
by iwishiwasatcamphalfblood1999
Summary: Charlotte Lucas, Alan Grant niece, had just about had enough with her research job. Deciding to try her luck at a more hands on research she travels back to Montana to join her uncle dig. That changes when her uncle and his intern decide to take a couple flying around an island and Charlotte tags along. billybrennanxoc *editing
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don not own Jurassic Park or any of the major plot points. I only own Charlotte Lucas and all original dialogue. **

**Charlotte's face claim is Anna Friel (because I adore her in Pushing Daisies and Timeline) **

Charlotte rushed around the building, desperate to find where her uncle was giving his lecture. She was running late, again. In fact she had showed up half an hour before his presentation to avoid this very situation but instead decided to go on a walk to calm her nerves. This resulted in an extremely lost twenty four year old who was frantically opening any door she saw.

"Ma'am." She heard as she opened a door into another empty room. "Ma'am."

"Yeah?" She turned, surprised to see a young student with a pixie cut and a scarf.

"Do you need any help?"

Charlotte nodded, relaxing slightly.

"I'm looking for Alan Grant." The woman nodded her head and smiled.

"I know exactly where he is." She started walking. "This place can be a maze." She looked over her shoulder at Charlotte, then leading her to the end of the hall, motioning for her to head on in.

"Thank you." She breathed out.

She opened the doors and immediately heard the director announce that questions would be answered. Charlotte watched as her uncle avoided answering any questions about Jurassic Park and soon the room was empty.

Driving back from the auditorium was almost completely filled with silence. Charlotte had wanted to complement her uncle on his speech (with no intention of telling him she had missed it) and had meant to until he ushered her out of the lecture hall with a curt "let's go" from there they quickly boarded a plane back to Montana. They were currently in his beat up pickup. It was apparent to Charlotte that her uncle favored the quiet and despite not seeing his niece for a year there was no welcome reunion. She had called him a week ago and told him her current situation- a boring job and a boring life. She had tried to get her uncle to ask her to join the dig but all he responded with was grunts of agreement when she brought up his work in Montana. Twenty minutes into the conversation she bluntly said that she wanted to go back to the dig and her uncle agreed.

There was an occasional groan in the car when the radio buffered followed by an attempt to change the station but other than that Charlotte and Alan remained quiet. Charlotte almost couldn't take it. Almost. Part of her was content with the silence. Alan didn't ask questions. He didn't ask why she called him crying or why her mother had practically begged him no to let her do this. There was no real expectations expected from her. Though if she was being honest, it hurt that he hadn't asked about her life. Her sister was usually the one initiated conversation between them. They had always been close, in fact, they had always been fairly similar. It was her uncle that introduced her to the world of dinosaurs and she had taught him all about greek mythology. Her mother had once referred to them as two sides of the same coin, which Charlotte remembered fondly.

"I'm excited to dig again." She spoke, trying to shift her uncle's focus from the static on the radio. " Working in a research museum is so much different. I would much rather be in the field." It had been almost a year since Charlotte had last worked with her uncle. Last summer her and her sister went to Montana to work with their uncle and his students. Her sister, being the social one, had gotten bored of the constant digging and frequented the bars, leaving Charlotte to immerse herself in the bones of the past, just like she preferred it.

"Odds are there will only be partial skeletons. And we have teams working on the designated areas so we may just need you to catalog our findings."

"That's still better than staring at a screen researching what others have discovered. " her uncle huffed in agreement.

They pulled up to the site and Charlotte finally let out a breath. This was exactly what she needed. Her research job was interesting and her coworkers were all similar to her, focused and curious, but she needed to get out of the enclosure. She wanted to experience something more.

She glanced out the window to see Billy, her uncle's assistant in a close embrace with another student. She smirked down at him, the last time she visited he spent the entire time teasing her about her work ethic, and trying to force her to let loose and drink. That had never happened and the only time Charlotte had left the dig site ended in her taking care of her a drunk sister and Billy as he kept tugging at her hair. As though sensing her uncle's glare he glanced up and ran over.

"Dr Grant!" Billy announced grabbing Alan's bags. "And Charlotte! What are you doing?"

"Hey Billy." Charlotte replied trying to avoid the hug her uncle's intern demanded to give her. "Just had to get out of the house." She pulled her suitcase out of his hands, muttering a small 'thanks' after her pulled it from the back of the trunk.

He laughed at her response turning his attention to the older man. "So, how was your trip? Profitable?"

"We'll be broke in four weeks." Charlotte rolled her eyes knowing that her uncle was slightly exaggerating.

"Three weeks. I had to rent some equipment." A dry laugh escaped Charlotte's mouth as both men looked at her.

"It's good to be back." She just shrugged, just her luck that her place of escape would close in a month.

They were led to a dusty looking tent and while Alan had his case held for him Charlotte was struggling to roll her suitcase on the sand.

"You should really pick that up Char." Billy responded to her grunts and wheezes.

"That would defeat the entire purpose of this thing." Charlotte narrowed her eyes due to the nickname. Billy scoffed only to pick up her suitcase for her, sending her a wink while she glared.

"I hope you know that now I expect you to carry all my things."

"Of course."

"You rented an automated litter box." Alan interrupted. Charlotte laughed at her uncle but stopped when she realized that he had a point.

"It's a rapid prototyper. I feed in the scan data from the raptor skull, than the computer breaks it into thousands of slices which this thing prints, one layer on top of the 's the future of paleontology." It didn't look impressive, in fact it looked old and complicated but Charlotte blamed that on her lack of knowledge on the piece of technology.

"Not if it can't dig."

The machine stopped moving and Billy carefully picked out an object from the middle.

"I give you a raptor's resonating chamber."

As the last call came from the raptors voice Charlotte spotted a man coming from the distance. Alan continues to gawk at the new discovery.

"This really is something." He mumbled, moving the piece around his his hands.

The man Charlotte had seen waited by the tent flap, looking anxiously at all the equipment tossed around the room.

The man stepped forward, holding out his hand. "Dr. Grant?

"Yes?" Alan turned, looking at the new comer. He was far to clean to be at a dig site in Montana.

"Paul Kirby. Kirby Enterprises. My card." He holds out a card with the name and logo.

"What can I do for you, Mr. Kirby? " Charlotte and Billy stood behind Alan, carefully watching the interaction between the two men.

"Well sir, I am a great admirer of yours, and I have an extremely interesting proposition to discuss. Would you let my wife and I take you to have dinner tonight? Our treat."

"You know, I've been traveling with my niece all day and we're very tired. Maybe some other time."

"I guarantee it'll be worth your while." Alan glanced at Billy who rubbed his fingers together, which both Charlotte and Alan were able to recognize as the sign that the Kirby's had money.

"We'd love to." Billy cut in as he stepped forward, giving Alan an encouraging grin.

"It'd be my pleasure." He hesitantly agreed. "Could my niece, Charlotte, join?" The man looked at the young woman who smiled at him, briefly introducing herself before the group finalized their plans to meet later that night.

When the man left Alan was able to lightly scold his student for putting him in a position he couldn't refuse and then led his niece to the trailer she'd be sleeping in.


	2. Chapter 2

"You can unpack your clothes. The other girls are pretty trustworthy, everyone tends to keep to themselves . And I guess you sleep here." He pointed out some cabinets and a bed. There were around half a dozen trailers on the land, each dedicated to a group of people. Charlotte had been put into whichever one had room.

He uncle had quickly left her in hopes of finding someone to boss around and Charlotte, having nothing to do, decided on exploring the site. She had half expected for her uncle to give her a tour but as he had earlier pointed out, he was a busy man. She walked around for a bit, trying to ignore the obvious stares of the other students. She knew where their thoughts were, she was only here because of her uncle, she didn't deserve this internship or whatever it was they thought she was here for. Billy had found her a little while after she had sat down with a friendly group who were excavating part of velociraptor and pulled her to look at what he thought was better. That happened to be another piece of technology, only this one showed her a approximation of how the dinsosaurs ran.

"You thought this was better than an actual skeleton?" Charlie questioned him, giving him a pointed look.

"Come on. You can't stay sitting outside all day. This is exactly what happened last time." Charlie rolled her eyes at the boy.

"I like digging up bones. It's calming. And it keeps me distracted. " She was met with a dubious look as she attempted to make her point. She was completely aware of how childish she sounded but it had already been a long day and being criticized on how she liked to spend her time was not something she appreciated. "What?" She was confused as to why Billy was smiling at her.

"Nothing, Char. Just glad that you're back."

A little while later the trio was leaving the site in favor of the local bar, to meet their potential investors. They made it to the restaurant almost half an hour late in dusty clothes and tired expressions. While Charlotte had looked around the bar her sister had so often frequented during her stay here and felt out of place. Her uncle looked as though he'd rather be anywhere else and Billy looked thrilled.  
Charlotte spotted Mr. Kirby first leading the boys to the table where two people sat. The new woman, Amanda politely greeted the trio, and despite her friendliness towards them, she had regarded Charlotte with calculating eyes.

"First off let me say as a dinosaur enthusiasts, Amanda and I have admired your work for years." Mr. Kirby started saying as the trio got comfortable, Alan and Billy quickly flagging down a waitress to get them drinks.

"It is truly, what's the word? Inspiring." Amanda nodded, agreeing with her husband.

Her uncle replied with a simple, "Thank you."

"Amanda and I, well, we just love the outdoors. Heck we've been on pretty much any adventure  
tour they can come up with: Galapagos, K2,the Nile..." Charlotte's interest peaked, of the many things she had an interest in she was utterly fascinated by anything involving Egypt.

"We even have two seats reserved aboard the first commercial moon flight." At this Charlotte chocked on her coke. "Really?" She questioned.

They nodded in response as Charlotte looked to her uncle in amazed disbelief and Billy nudged his arm. "Rich" he mouthed at the young woman, as she rolled her eyes but grinned, electing to pay attention to the couple rather than Billy's attempts to ingrain in her uncle's brain how loaded their companions were.

"Now, for our wedding anniversary this year we wanted to do something really special, something..." Paul put his hand on top of Amanda's, giving her a gentle squeeze as they made eye contact.

"...once-in-a-lifetime." She continued.

"We've arranged for a private airplane to take us flying over Isla Sorna. And we want you to be our guide."

The couple looked expectantly at Alan, who gave his niece and assistant an annoyed look, while they both shrugged. He turned his attention to the eager couple, unsure how to let them down but determined to do so.

"That's a very nice offer, Mr. Kirby, but I'm afraid I'm much to busy. If you like I can refer you to a number of highly qualified..." It didn't sound to Charlotte like her uncle even had a choice in the matter, even though he had always been adamant that he wouldn't return to any island with dinosaurs, not even a thousand feet off the ground.

**"**No, no, see Dr. Grant, you're the best. You've seen these animals in the flesh. No one else  
has come close to you."

"I'm flattered, but I've taken this little adventure tour. And with the air restrictions they've imposed after the incident in San Diego, you can't fly low enough to see anything of interest."

"You see, that's just the thing. Paul and I have special permission to fly low." Of course that wouldn't be a problem for them.

"How low?" Billy questioned, leaning forward to wait for an answer.

Paul gave him one. An answer far more terrifying than either had expected. "Well, I'm no aviation specialist. But I do know it's hell of a lot lower than anyone else."

"From what I understand, it's pretty much whatever we want." Charlotte's eyebrows shot up. There must have been some regulation for being that close to an island filled with extint, aggressive animals.

"That's hard to believe." Her uncle mumbled, like his niece, wondering what kind of person would allow them to fly that low.

"Let's just say that through my business -imports/exports, emerging markets - I've made some friends in high places. In this case, the Costa Rican government." Paul explained at the questioning glances the three paleontologists made at each other.

"Dr. Grant, you don't know how important it is for us to have you come along. It would make all the difference." Alan tried to say no, he was going to explain how dangerous it was and how he vowed never to go back when their next offer gave him a reason to agree.

"And of course, we're prepared to make a sizeable contribution to your research here. I can write all kinds of numbers on this check. Just tell me what exactly it would take." Charlotte glanced at her uncle and could practically see the list of pros and cons going through his head. As thrilled as she was at the prospect of seeing a dinosaur she knew her uncle would only take up the offer if money was really an issue. But luckily for the Kirbys, it was.


	3. Chapter 3

The Kirby's left a little while after Alan had agreed to their offer. After he agreed they had finished finalizing the plans and then giving the waitress their card info. "Dinner is on us." They had told the trio, telling them to order anything on the menu. Alan had elected to leave but Billy wouldn't allow Charlotte to go back until she tried all his favorite dishes.

"C'mon. It's free."

"To us. But the Kirby's probably wouldn't expect us to spend more than thirty dollars here." She argued as Billy got another round for the two of them. The next hour was filled with Billy trying in vain to teach the young brunette how to throw darts at least close to the center of the board. She did, by the end of the night, admit that she had a good time, only slightly regretting her choice to spend all her free time reading and digging up bones rather than go to bars the last time she was in Montana.

After the duo had made their way back to the camp they went their separate ways into their trailers, Charlotte tried to get into her bed as quietly as she could, that didn't stop one of her "roommates" from waking up at the sound of large boots hitting the ground.

"Oh my god," a quiet voice erupted from the bed closest to Charlotte. "What time is it?"

"10:42. I'm sorry."

"It's fine. You're Grant's niece, right?" Charlotte's eyes had adjusted well enough to see that the woman she had woken up was the same one who she saw with Billy earlier.

"Charlotte. Or Charlie."

"I'm Cheryl." She responded holding in a yawn. "Billy definitely has a type." Charlotte smiled in response despite being confused at the comment and slightly annoyed that Cheryl was putting her into a category.

"I actually am leaving tommorow, so I have to wake up early. I can leave if you want me to."

Cheryl shook her head. "We wake up early anyway to dig."

They said their goodnights as Charlotte started getting ready. Soon she was curled up in the bed, and as uncomfortable as she was, fell fast asleep.

The next morning Charlotte only had time for a small snack so she filled her backpack up with all the protein bars and water she could find. She didn't know how long they would be on the plane and luckily she had grown used to hoarding her food around at work so she didn't have much of a problem bringing a large bag.

She found Billy running around the camp asking other students where her uncle was.

"If we miss the plane because he doesn't like this idea, we won't be able to dig here for much longer." Billy was having a hard time controlling his panic. Charlotte wasn't surprised he was so anxious, beneath the laid back personality he was just as high strung as the next person. "How are you by the way? We haven't talked in a while."

"What? Oh, I'm good. What about you?"

"I'm great now." Before Charlotte could respond her uncle came into view.

"Took you long enough." His assistant yelled.

"Do my a favor Billy," He started. "next time, don't sign us up for giving a tour of dinosaurs."

Two hours later they were sitting comfortably on a small plane that made Charlotte want to jump out of, but not in the safe way. There was a pilot and copilot seat and then three rows of looked at her uncle next to her who was trying to find a comfortable position to sit. He turned his head to Billy who was messing with his camera bag behind him.

"Even with what I pay you, you could get a better bag."

"No way. This is lucky. Couple years ago some buddies and I went hang gliding off these cliffs in New Zealand. Updraft sent me right into the side. BOOM!" Charlotte had heard this story before and rolled her eyes at his idea of fun. Though he would argue with what she viewed as fun was "boring" and "lame".

"That does sound lucky." He uncle responded, obviously confused with his idea of lucky.

"It was this strap alone that saved my life. Got caught on a rock as I was falling."

"Reverse-Darwinism. Survival of the most idiotic."

Charlotte let out a laugh at her uncle's explanation. " It's nice to see how far we've evolved." Her sarcastic response only got her an amused reaction from Billy and a polite smile from her uncle. So much for family bonding she thought as she opened her pack to grab her book and some granola. She had just gotten to a myth on Prometheus when she heard Billy thank her uncle.

"Listen Alan, I really appreciate you bringing me along."

"The bones will be there when we get back. That's the nice thing about them. They never run away." He paused. "And besides, you got me into this. I don't intend to have either me or Charlotte be alone with these people."

He nodded in confirmation with his confession, finally finding a comfortable position to sleep. Billy looked over at the girl, determined to talk to her but after seeing her immersed in her book he turned to the man next to him.

"So how do you know the Kirby's?"

"Through our church."

"What religion?" He asked, not really curious but he'd rather have a mindless conversation than continue the plane ride in silence.

"Uh...the one that worships God and believes in being  
good. "

Billy turned to Charlotte. "Hey."

"Hi."

"What are you reading." He nodded as she showed him the cover of her book.

"It's one of my favorites."

"You rank your favorite books on greek mythology?"

She nodded. "Some don't include my favorite myths."

"I think you could write your own book, with all your favorite myths. Even last time you were at the dig you read those books instead of going out."

Charlotte shrugged at the suggestion. She wouldn't admit that she had already started compiling a list of her favorite myths in an attempt to write her own book on myths. That confession would just make her fascination with fantasy an easy topic to get teased over.

"I talked to Cheryl last night." She was pleased to see her companion awkwardly shift in his seat.

"She tends to stretch the truth. We went on one date."

"Really? She didn't even mention you." She watched as his expression turned from panic to embarrassment.

"Exactly, there's nothing to tell."

"I think she's sweet. You two would be good together." Charlotte was met with silence as Billy made a face and turned towards the window. She smiled to herself, she never was able to tease people on their past or present romantic relationships. She tried with her sister, Rachel, but she had gotten so angry that Charlotte had a bruise in the shape of a hand for weeks.


	4. Chapter 4

A couple hours into the flight Charlotte needed to get out of her seat, in addition to her uneasiness flying her legs were starting to get numb. She had wandered over to Amanda in hopes of starting some sort of conversation with her, asking her where her favorite vacation spot was and which dinosaur she most wanted to see. But throughout the entire exchange she felt as though she was speaking to a wall, and quickly went back to her own business. The only other person who seemed unnerved with the silence was Billy, who looked like he was making rounds talking to all the other passengers, but failing as everyone else seemed content in the silence.

Over the next few hours the entire group grew restless. Charlotte and Billy had begun a game of tossing trail mix into each other's mouths, laughing as the pieces hit each other and bounced away. The other occupants of the plane kept looking out the windows, anxiously waiting to search for the young boy who had gone missing but mostly remained silent. Just after Billy was able to tear Charlotte away from the book she had picked up again after another raisin hit her face the pilot informed them that they were almost to the island.

Billy leaned over her uncle, trying to shake him awake. "Alan. We're almost there."

He jumped up as Billy grabbed his shoulder. He searched around the plane, his eyes landing on an observing Charlotte before glancing out the window.

"Whoa." Charlotte was amazed at the island that suddenly appeared in front of them. She saw the green peak first as it came out from the fog. Soon enough the entire island was visible. It looked so isolated, unsurprisingly due to the wildlife it carried. She had never been a fan of the original park, things that were dead should stay dead, and despite her excitement to see a real dinosaur she couldn't help but feel like she was about to be involved in something unnatural.

"Unidentified aircraft approaching Isla Sorna, this is San Juan approach. You are flying in restricted airspace. Immediately turn to the coordinates two-zero-zero. I repeat redirect to..." A quiet voice sounded, Charlotte tried to find the source of the noise but it was shut off before she got the chance to find it.

Charlotte saw Paul put his hand over Amanda's. She couldn't help but smile at the couple. She still believed that she was a romantic at heart and she was happy that these two people had found each other.

"Admit it." She heard Billy say to her uncle. " You're excited."

He remained silent as her and Billy shared a glance, completely doubting that Alan was completely uninterested. As far as Charlotte one, her uncle's first trip to the park started in absolute amazement before his inevitable hatred for the experiments.

"Cooper! Yell up if you see anything!" Udesky yelled at the man in the back row.

"No, I thought I'd keep it to myself." He quipped back keeping up his uninterested position.

"There. There! An Apatosaur. Look at the coloration." Alan pointed out to Charlotte who moved Billy's head so he was able to see the dinosaur as well. He smiled at her action despite having a view of another Apatosaur where he was looking.

It really was beautiful creature, calmly grazing on the green grass blow its looked like it belonged in the scenery and Charlotte found herself wishing that she could feel at home in a place where she didn't belong. Charlotte studied it as much as she could, silently wishing she had brought a camera like Billy, but part of her wanted to keep this as private as she could.

"I'm so used to seeing bones. It's weird to see skin." Billy told Alan, astonished with the animal.

"I've seen artistic renderings, but nothing like this, it's amazing."

"Mr. and Mrs. Kirby! If you look out the right you can see..." Alan tried in vain to get their attention. Paul just waved him away, which caused Alan to have a bewildered look on his face as he went back to looking at the amazing creatures below them.

Charlotte questioned, "Are there pterodactyls?"

"They were on In-gen's list." Her uncle nodded in confirmation to his assistant's response. Charlotte squealed in excitement as both of her companions smiled at the excited girl.

"Shut up. You both know that they're my favorite." She had a long time obsession with flying dinosaurs, she had often compared their flight like the freedom that birds had. When she was younger she tried everything in her power to get up in the air, often resulting in her climbing thirty foot trees. She had one jumped off a brick wall just to feel the rush of the air, that stunt had landed her with a sprained ankle and judgmental sister.

"South shore is clear. The rest is rock." Udesky told Nash.

"Are we on?" He replied.

**"**We're on."

As they looked out the windows Alan noticed how low they were actually flying and the sound of the landing gear got Charlotte to notice that they were a lot closer to land than she had thought.

"What is going on?"

"That's not the landing gear?" He questioned the Kirby's who remained silent, avoiding the questions that were being thrown at them.

"What you're.. You can't land." Paul turned to look at the man.

"Dr. Grant if you'd just sit tight, we'll explain this all in a jiffy." Charlotte felt less sure and she sank back into her seat to avoid what she figured would be a plane crash caused by her uncle leaving his seat to fly the plane himself.

"This plane can not land!"

"It's going to be all right. Just..." By this point Alan was more scared than he was angry and Charlotte was able to see him make his way towards the cockpit before Cooper grabbed him, landing a punch as the body in his arms stopped moving.

"What did you do?" Charlotte was out of her seat quicker than she thought possible as she charged at Cooper, only to feel arms around her waist holding her back.

"Relax." Billy told her. "Was that necessary?" He questioned the man.

"He was going to crash the plane."

Charlotte couldn't argue with that and relaxed understanding that they had avoided an inevitable crash. "Why were we even landing?" Charlotte noticed that he still had him arms wrapped around her and moved them off her so she could check on her uncle.

"He's still breathing." She announced. But the plane had already landed and a frantic Amanda had grabbed a megaphone and ran out of the plane.

"Eric! Eric! Are you there honey? Ben!"


	5. Chapter 5

Charlotte and Billy leaned over Alan as they fanned him in an attempt to give him more air, despite Charlotte's protests that because he was punched, and he hadn't fainted that trying to fan him wouldn't do much good. They heard a quiet groan as Alan slowly started getting up from the ground.

"Tell me we didn't land."

Billy gave him a guilty look as Amanda called out for Eric again.

"I think they're looking for someone." He explained as Charlotte slowly helped her uncle from the floor of the plane.

"They've been yelling for him since we landed." Charlotte confirmed Alan's unasked question. He just scoffed in response. Charlotte tried to mask her hesitation. While she was thrilled to be able to go back in time to see the animals she also desperately wanted to study she knew that if they didn't get back on the plane the wildlife would destroy them.

The three exited the plane to see Udesky and Cooper preparing their weapons and Amanda walking around the length of the plane, yelling for an Eric.

" Dr. Grant, are you alright? I'm sorry we had to be so..." Paul ran over to the trio, trying to apologize only to be met with three separate glares. Charlotte had her arms crossed over her chest as she tried to ignore her surroundings and instead focused on the man in front of her.

"What the hell is going on? What are they doing?" Alan asked about the three men who had left the area to go into the dense trees.

"Establishing a perimeter. Making it safe. These guys are really good. One of them was a Green..."

"Mr. Kirby, trust me, on this island, there is no such thing as safe. We have to get back in this plane..." Grant interrupted, not only fearing for their safety but also terrified that it was too late to survive,

"ERIC."

"And tell your wife to stop making so much noise! We're food to these damn animals."

"Amanda, Honey! Dr. Grant says it's a bad idea!"

Amanda continued to yell on the megaphone until Paul got her attention. But even then she yelled, the sound echoing throughout the island. "What?"

"He says it's a bad idea!"

"What's a bad idea?"

As if on cue a giant roar made all the members of their search party freeze in their tracks. Charlotte felt her blood run cold and her heart started beating way too fast for her to process that this was what absolute terror felt like. She had always been nonchalant about death, she knew she would die, there wasn't a point worrying about when, but now as she stood surrounded by prehistoric creatures she feared death. She looked at her uncle who wore a similar expression and to Billy, who looked defeated.

"What was that?" Paul asked Alan as he nervously looked around.

"That would be a Dinosaur, Paul." Charlotte answered almost disbelievingly. She whipped her head around their position, trying to find the source of the roar.

"Is it a rex?" Billy whispered to Alan and Charlotte, who shrugged.

"I don't think so." Alan answered as Billy and Paul breathed out in relief. "Sounds bigger." Charlotte laughed.

"Of course it does."

The three men who had gone into the jungle came running back screaming bloody murder.

"We gotta go, now!"

Paul looked at them confused. " What's the problem? Can't you guys...?" Other roar could be heard shaking the ground, it was even louder than the last time. All Charlotte knew was that the louder sound meant that it was closer so whatever dinosaur it was would reach them in no time.

They ran back into the plane as Udesky waved everyone on. Nash hurried into the cockpit while everyone else scrambled to a seat. Charlotte ran to her original seat, collapsing into the cushion with one deep breath. She hadn't realized that she had been crying until she finally felt safe and was able to notice her blurred vision and wet cheeks.

"We can't just..."

"Don't worry, honey. We'll circle around and come back." Paul started comforting his wife as she started hyperventilating.

"We're missing one." Charlotte noticed as she counted one extra seat.

"What about the other guy?" Billy asked Udesky who's voice gave away and confidence he had in Cooper's survival"

"Coop's a professional. He can handle himself."

The group heard a scream that Charlotte could only describe as one caused by the screamer knowing that death was inevitable and the desperation of trying to get help.

"We're going!"

Udesky climbed into the copilot's seat, and Nash revved the engine. Charlotte clung to the seat in front of her deciding not to buckle after noticing that her shaking hands could barely move her backpack.

The plane started moving, faster than any plane normally would but this was a different occasion. Charlotte bumped up and down in her seat as she heard a muffled conversation from the front. She couldn't hear the words clearly but she had assumed they were arguing about whether or not they should leave Cooper. All she could clearly was Paul Kirby yell out "That's Mr. Cooper" before they finally lifted off the ground.


	6. Chapter 6

Just as the plane lifted off Charlotte looked out the window to see a large, scaly animal leaning over a body that looked distinctly human. She only managed a gasp before the plane started shaking and soared straight into the trees.

"Oh, my God! Paul, my God!"

Everyone was silent for a minute until Billy's voice broke through the quiet.

"Is anyone hurt? Char, are you okay?"

Charlotte patted down her arms and legs, slowly running her hands over her face to feel any injuries. The side of her head was a little tender but she expected that it was from hitting the window due to the sudden movement.

"I think i'm okay. Are you hurt?" Billy, who was right next to her, only shook his head as he moved closer to Alan.

**"**Quiet! We're okay. Let's everybody just stay put." Udesky tried to calm down the remaining people as he attempted to turn on the radio, only to realize that it, along with the plane, was ruined.

"Who's got the sat-phone?" Nash asked as Paul handed over the phone, still trembling.

Charlotte watched her uncle get up to open the door only to gasp as he looked down. He shut the door and walked over to his niece.

"We're thirty feet up in the trees."

Her jaw dropped.

"Shit!"

"What is it? What's the matter?" Paul asked Nash just as Amanda screamed at a giant face in the window.

As son as everyone else saw the face, they all screamed too, causing the creature to move the plane. It lurched down as a deep growl vibrated the plane.

They all held on the the seats as the plane moved to the side. Charlotte grabbing on to the seat, trying to buckle herself in as everyone gathered together.

She heard the sound of ripping metal as the front of the plane was completely torn off. The plane was now facing the ground and Charlotte abandoned her task, deciding on holding onto what was closest to her.

A large snout pressed against the cockpit seats until reaching it's destination, Nash's legs. He cried out as Alan, Billy and Charlotte tried to pull him back but the dinosaur was too strong and they lost their grip as he was pulled down the aisle. They all watched in horror as the man who was so alive half an hour ago was devoured by an animal that should have been extinct a long time ago.

Alan tried opening the back door, motioning Billy to help. He quickly left Charlotte's side in attempt to get an exit route but the door wouldn't budge.

The dino was back and had it's beady eyes aimed towards Amanda who was still buckled. She lifted her legs as soon as the dinosaur snapped its teeth. Billy lurched forward to unbuckle the woman before pulling her back to the end of the plane. With the extra weight the plane started falling backwards, landing with a crash on the ground before tipping all the passengers over.

The sudden impacted was dazing, the group remained silent, there wasn't any need to see if anyone was okay because none of the passengers thought that they would make it out alive.

Just as they seem giant eye they are trampled down. Charlotte, as well as the rest of them, were thrown back and forth. Finally the movement stops as they crash into a tree.

"Over here!" Billy shouted, pointing to a narrow gap. He helped get everyone out, leaving the plane as soon as he made sure that no one else was left.

"This way!" Alan led them towards the jungle pulling Billy towards him in attempt to get the younger man to stop looking at the giant creature.

The group is led into a denser part of the jungle, there isn't a large enough gap for the dinosaur to get through. The group was starting to lose speed and the heaving breathing could be tracked to any of the six remaining members. They were directed to some underbrush until they are stopped in their tracks. A Sauropod lies right in the middle of their path.

"Don't worry. It's dead." Grant reassures until a Tyrannosaurus rises from the corpse.

"Nobody move a muscle. Remember, the T-Rex tracks motion."

The Kirby's and Udesky run away first, and then Billy, who gives Alan an apologetic shrug. Seeing no other choice, Alan reluctantly grabs Charlotte's hand to pull her away from the dinosaur as they try to catch up to the rest of the group.


	7. Chapter 7

Dashing back to the way they came, the group suddenly reconnected with the first dinosaur that had greeted them on the island.

The party was finally able to get a good look at the dinosaur and despite being completely paralyzed Charlotte was able to look at it without crying in fear. It had to be over forty feet long and twenty feet high. It was terrifying and with nowhere else to go the group split up, moving towards different parts of the clearing.

Paul and Amanda scrambled to one direction as Charlotte followed Billy and Udesky to the other side. She watched in fear as her uncle tried to move only almost trip with his foot stuck in between two fallen branches. Just as the two dinosaurs approached he was able to break free and dove down in between two trees, to provide at least a little cover.

One of the dinosaurs stood right over him. Charlotte took a deep breath and squeezed her eyes shut. She heard the dinosaurs continue fighting and soon she heard the ragged breaths of Amanda and Paul. Billy carefully nudged her side as the growling stopped and when she opened her eyes she saw her uncle, drenched in blood walking towards the group, until a shuddering crash occurred and one of the dinosaurs blocked the path, nearly crushing the group of five.

"Come on!" Her uncle called out to the group, who hurried after the only person who who seemed to know where to go.

They were finally able to stop running after a very tired Charlotte tripped over her own feet. Her uncle had been worried and suggested they walk fr a while. As they walked back, Charlotte tried to comfort Amanda, who was completely traumatized by the two dinosaurs. out of nowhere Alan quickly grabbed hold of Paul, only to shove him up against a tree. Amanda cringed at the sound but made no protest to Paul getting hurt.

"Why did you bring us here?" Paul remained speechless, lookin showed at the sudden pressure against him.

"Our son is on this island. We need your help to find him." Charlotte gave Amanda an empathetic look as she saw Paul take out an image from his pocket.

"This is him. Eric. He's thirteen now. He's just about the greatest kid in the world."

Alan took the image to look over, giving it to Billy. "Why was he here?" Charlotte questioned, taking the photo from Billy. "Cute kid."

" He's with a man named Ben Hildebrand." Amanda explained.

"Who's that?"

Paul locked eyes with Billy. " Her new boyfriend."

"A friend. We were vacationing. Eric wanted to see the island and the dinosaurs, so Ben found a guy who would take them never came back."

"Not my idea of fun." Charlotte whispered to Billy.

"We called everyone, did everything we of all the controversy over this island, no one will step in. Costa Rica says it's a no-fly zone, it's their own damn at the U.S Embassy - our U.S. Embassy - said we should "accept the inevitable." You believe that?" Charlotte shrugged.

"So you hired these you duped us into coming here." Grant looked at his two companions who were looking at Paul with varying expressions of pity and anger.

"We needed somebody who knew the lay of the land. Somebody who'd been to this island before."

" I have never been on this island!" Alan yelled.

"Sure you have. You wrote that book..." Charlotte shook her head. "No."

**"**That was Isla Nublar. This is Isla Sorna. The second island."

Paul looked at Udesky. "I didn't know there were two islands."

Amanda spoke up this time. "Still, you have survived the dinosaurs before. You saved those kids".

"A few of us survived. A lot more died. And we were better prepared and better armed." He paused. "How many days have they been missing?"

Paul and Amanda shared a look. "Eight weeks."

Charlotte cringed, she couldn't imagine losing a child for eight weeks. No wonder they tricked them into coming. If roles were reversed she would have done the same thing.

"After what you've seen today, you really think your son could be alive?"

"Uncle Grant..."

"He's smart, Dr. Grant. And he knows so much about dinosaurs."

"No, I'm sorry, but no. We'll savage what we can from the plane. Then we head for the coast. There may be a boat left, something to get us off this island."

"Dr. Grant, we're not leaving without our son. Charlotte, you'll help. Right?"

"Of c-"

" You can stick with us, or you can go and look for him. Charlotte, you're with us. Either way you're probably not getting out of here alive." Charlotte glared at her uncle. Billy waited a second after Alan left but seeing that Charlotte wouldn't budge, he grabbed her arm. he knew she wanted to help, and he did too but the likelihood of the kid being alive was slim.

"C'mon Char."

Surprisingly Charlotte barely rebelled, she too had realized that her uncle was right. "It's Charlie."

They weren't surprised to hear the footsteps of three people following them. Alan had made it to the plane wreckage. Charlotte found her backpack easily but was having a difficult time finding her book. She probably needed new clothes, her shorts and shirt were all torn and bloody, her hair was a mess and she was pretty sure she had gashes all over her body not to mentioned a scrapped knee that was starting to bruise.

"Yes." She looked over to see Billy holding his camera like a trophy.

"Hey." Charlotte looked over to Amanda. "I have some extra clothes if you want some." Charlotte thanked her, deciding to keep her shorts that were in pretty good condition. She picked out a tan tank top and a flannel. The top was a little small of her but after getting her hair pulled up and splashing some water over her face she felt almost clean.

"Charlie, I found your book." Charlotte ran over to Billy who was holding her book of classical mythology.

"Thank you!"She tenderly flipped through the pages, it still looked to be in decent shape, just a little dirty so she wiped it off before packing it away.

"What are we going to do?" She asked her uncle who was sifting through the wrecked to find anything useful.

"Go to the shore, I guess."

Billy had left the two alone in, what Charlotte assumed, an attempt to get them to reconnect.

"I'm sorry this trip turned out this way." Alan apologized to his niece.

She shrugged. "Well it definitely is different than the museum." An awkward silence filled the air as they both made to conscious decision to go towards where Billy was taking photos of some footprints.

"How would you classify it?"

"Obviously a superpredator. Suchimimus. that snout." Charlotte nodded in agreement.

"They never got that big."

"Baryonyx?"

"Not with that sail." Billy shrugged, giving up. " Spinosaurus Aegypticus."

" I don't remember that on InGen's list."

"Neither do I"

"That's because it wasn't on their list. Who knows what else they were up to?"

"Nothing good." Charlotte mumbled.

Billy looked past Grant to see Paul approaching. He was trying to fix his backpack straps but ended up walking in circles.

"So Mr. Kirby, tell me, when you climbed K2, did you base camp at 25- or 30,000 feet?"

"Thirty-thousand, I think. Closer to the top."

"About a thousand feet above it, actually." he moved closer to the man." Most mountain-climbers remember how tall that mountains were."

Alan caught on. "There is no Kirby Enterprises, is there?"

"There is. I own a place called Kirby Paint and Title Plus. We're out in the WestgateShopping Center in Enid, Oklahoma. The"plus" is for bathroom fixtures, fireplaces accessories, patio furniture. Stuff like that."

"I don't suppose that check you wrote us is any good."

"He paid us half up front. Cash." Grant looked over at Udesky for a second.

"Mortgaged everything we had to do it. Even the store. and if we make it off this island with my son, I swear, I'll make good on the money I owe you. I don't care if it takes me the rest of my life."

Grant and Udesky exchange a dubious glance.

"No. You don't have to do that." Charlotte told him, giving him a sad glance. "I would've done the same thing."

"Really?" Billy asked.

Paul shook his head. "No, every penny, I swear. However long it takes."

Udesky just scoffed. "However long that is."


	8. Chapter 8

The group made their way through the terrain with Alan leading everyone through the abandoned parts of the jungle while everyone else lagged behind.

"Eric!" Amanda yelled again, her voice just slightly quieter due to her loss of the megaphone.

"Quiet!" She was reminded as she was approached by her ex-husband.

"Stop that. Dr. Grant says this is dangerous territory."

" Well we should split up or something. We can cover twice the area."

"No, Dr. Grant says..."

"Dr. Grant says this, Dr. Grant says that..."

"Well what's the use of hiring an expert if your not going to listen to him?"

At this point Charlotte stopped listening to the bickering pair. The exhaustion of almost dying multiple times was getting to her and she knew that if the Kirby's fought for much longer she would break them up.

"If they split up, I'm going with you."

Charlotte nodded at Udesky. "That's definitely a good plan. Though if we split up we'll be responsible for those two's death."

As they continued through the path Billy sped up as he saw something in the trees ahead. Charlotte ran up to see what it was. There in the branches was a torn up parachute with a life vest hanging off

"Young adult." Paul's voice cracked as he said that and a chill ran down Charlotte's spine.

"Eric..."

Charlotte laid a comforting hand on Amanda's shoulder. "He must've gotten loose and escaped." Amanda smiled at the reassurance, though both knew that Charlotte was just being kind.

"Hey. Got something here." Udesky's voice sounded a little further up the path and the group turned to see him holding up a video recorder.

"That's Ben's!" She sounded party relieved and partly panicked as she tries to turn on the camcorder

She grabs it from Udesky and pops open the screen. She tried turning the power switch on but the battery's dead.

Udesky pulled out a flashlight from his pack and looks to Amanda.

"Here, give that to me." As Udesky takes the battery out of the flashlight Alan and Billy observe the parasail.

"It looks intact."

"What would we use it for?" Charlotte questioned.

"We should take it with us to signal any planes."

"We could try, but no one is looking for us."

Billy looked at her. "You were the one who was willing to go off in the middle of the island to help find their kid."

"Exactly. So they'd be reunited." She didn't have to finish the thought. They both knew what would happen. "I can't imagine what they're going through right now."

Udesky was able to get the camcorder turned on from using the flashlight's battery so the group crowed around as the screen lit up eager to see what had happened to the young boy.

"It works!"

"I don't know for how long." Udesky tried to tell the excited mother.

On the screen there is a young boy playing frisbee on the beach with an older man, it could only be Eric and Ben.

"That's him. That's Eric!"

"I filmed this the morning they left."

Ben caught the frisbee and motioned to Eric, who ran over, suddenly the started running towards the camera. Charlotte saw Paul close his mouth but his expression of jealousy was replaced with a reaction to the new feed that took its place. The pair was tethered to the back of the boat, only they were going to fast towards the island. Eric was screaming for Ben, who had unlocked the parasail. The group witnessed Ben and Eric's crash into the canopy and their final resting place. Eric was able to jump off and the group head Ben's weak voice before the video camera lost its power and the screen turned black.

"See? He's okay. He's alive! Everything's going to be all right now."

Amanda brought a hand to her mouth, silently nodding her head as Charlotte looked over at the pair.

Alan and Billy exchange a dubious look, then begin pulling the parasail out of the tree. Unfortunately the fabric got caught on some branches and just as they pulled it loose a decaying body came swinging out at the pair, diving directly into Amanda. She screamed in terror, clawing at her body as she began running away.

"Amanda!" Paul yelled at his ex-wife as he chased after her.

"Dr. Grant!" with two of their members missing the remaining three moved over to Udesky when he called on the older paleontologist.

As they walk over they are met with nests, about twelve of them. Each are filled with oval shaped eggs. Charlotte is too overwhelmed for words. This is the first dinosaur that hadn't tried to kill her. Granted they were technically eggs but she liked the idea of being this close to a prehistoric animal and in no danger. Part of her wanted to take these animals away and raise them to live in no danger but she couldn't deny them of their animal instincts.

"Raptors." Her uncle confirmed her suspicions as she visibly saw him pale. From all the stories that Ellie had told her about Jurassic Park, she could tell that neither of them enjoyed velociraptors as much has they previously did.

They suddenly heard the distant roar of a dinosaur and the group, including Amanda and Paul who had made their way back, started running away from the danger.

"What's a raptor?" Amanda asked Paul, who gave her a confused face, clearly not knowing the famous dinosaur.

"They don't look that big. I mean, comparatively." Udesky responded to the pair.

"They're about this tall." Charlotte measured a space below her shoulders as reference.

"If we came across one, we might live."

"Well that's good." Charlotte laughed.

"But you never came across just one." Grant chimed in, explaining his hatred for the animal while Charlotte nodded in confirmation.

""They're amazing creatures, really. Super intelligent, and they travel in groups."

Amanda looked around, noticing that the group had one less person. "Wait! Where's Billy?"

Charlotte stopped, looking at her uncle in a terrifying realization.

"Billy! Billy!" They yelled together.

"I thought we weren't suppose to yell." Amanda told the pair.

"When one of our dinosaur experts is missing, then we yell." Charlotte explained to the light haired woman, who just gave her an annoyed expression.

"Here!" Billy emerged from the forest, wearing a happy smile. "I got some great pictures of the nest. You know this proves raptors raised their young in colonies."

Charlotte rolled her eyes and Alan gave his student a glare, both walking away from Billy as he continued to talk about his findings.

"This speaks to a larger social structure, the possibility of Darwinian altruism. It changes everything." He paused for a second, ready to reveal his plan. "We could co-write a paper."

"Ah yes, the first rule of academics. Publish or perish." Billy looked confused as his mentor's harsh words for a moment before deciding that there was still a chance to publish his findings.

"He was just worried. You could have died." Charlotte explained to the boy.

"I was ten feet away."

She pulled on his camera bag strap as he walked in front of her, making him face her as he turned around.

"We need to stick together. My uncle lost people the last time he did this. If we lose you he'll hold onto this for the rest of his life."


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey ya'll. I just wanted to thank Casattack for reviewing my story! And tank you to everyone who faved and followed! **

After the group of six left the nests, they continued their trek towards the coast. After noticing that the other members were starting to lose energy and kept falling behind Charlotte offered them some snacks. They had refused the food but accepted the water. Unfortunately, by the time everyone had gotten a sip, the water was empty.

"I told you that those bars suck." Billy whispered to her as she took a bite, making a face at the bitter taste.

"This is all the girls had in the trailer. Besides, they're healthy" She then gave up, spitting it out. "And disgusting. I think the girls are starving themselves."

"I think they're saving room for the bar food. What did you even eat when you were stuck at the camp last time?"

Charlotte shrugged, she remembered that there was actually food last time that she had eaten. The dig site normally only provided a breakfast of oatmeal so the diggers were on their own for the other meals. "I guess whatever Rachel brought back from the town. And a lot of lunchables." She laughed.

"Ah. so you did try the bar food." Billy pointed out as she rolled her eyes.

"You should really stop talking about food when all we have is bland protein bars and trail mix full of raisins." Charlotte responded to her companion.

"Then we'd have nothing else to talk about." He joked at the younger girl who shook her head before realizing that he was right. They hadn't really had an actual conversation before. Their entire friendship was Charlotte keeping to herself as Billy and her sister tried getting her out of her shell. If anything Billy was Rachel's friend, not Charlotte's.

"I hate when you're right."

He started laughing as the group made their way to a ravine with a silver building in the center. It looked exactly like a structure that Charlotte expected to find abandoned in the zombie apocalypse.

"I bet there's a very good chance Eric's in there. I'd bet my bottom dollar." Charlotte shared a look with her uncle who looked extremely doubtful. But she nodded encouragingly at Paul despite her own disbelief.

They past dozens of abandoned cars, but most were damaged beyond repair with dented bumpers and shattered windows. Most of them even had ivy growing from the engine, which Charlotte found extremely eerie. "I guess we can't drive." Charlotte mentioned to her companions.

"Too bad, we could have gotten to the shore quicker." Her uncle replied as he trudged on towards the building. As they entered each member took note of the overgrown ivy that covered the walls.

"You should be taking picture of this." Charlotte said to Billy as his eyes wandered around the lobby. She carefully slid her hand on the ivy, studying the intricate twists of the plant.

"I'm not going to waste my film on weeds because you think they look cool." Charlotte made a face at him, walking away before she could see him take out his camera and position it at one of the walls.

A sudden flapping cause Charlotte to screech, the other members turned sharply to discover that the noise that had startled the girl was a flock of birds.

"Awww." She smiled as she saw the nests of birds in the rafters. Alan looked at her in confusion. "I like birds. Just not when they scare me."

"Is it okay to yell now?" Amanda asked Charlotte as she smiled.

"Sure."

"Eric! Are you here?" Paul yelled out followed by Amanda yelling out their son's name.

"I think he would have heard Charlie's scream anyway." Billy laughed as he patted Paul on the shoulder in a display of comfort. "This place seems pretty abandoned."

Paul and Amanda exchanged a hopeless look. "There's still plenty of places he could be." Charlotte tried to comfort the pair. "We'll keep looking."

As they continued walking the halls they were met with a couple of vending machines.

"Food." Charlotte moaned as she made her way over to the machines. Paul started pulling coins from his pocket.

"Let's see. I've got about a dollar seventy- five. How about you guys?" Charlotte shared an amused smiled with Billy right before his foot broke through the glass. He checked the dates off of the candy.

"Thank God for preservatives." He handed some chips and a milky way to Charlotte who smiled and thanked him, as he handed the food to the others.

Alan pushed open a pair of doors, leading the group into a large room filled with with rows of giant, glass cylinders. Many of them held small dinosaurs, they looked like embryos and Charlotte couldn't help but feel bad for the extent animals that would never live. hen it hit her, they were standing in a laboratory.

"This is how you make dinosaurs?" Amanda asked as she walked around the frozen creatures.

"This is how you play God." Alan responded with a horrified expression etched on his face.

Billy looks around the lab. He can't help but be impressed as he sees the flesh of the animals he has studied for looks disgusted and a little sad as she stands next to her uncle.

"Okay if I take pictures?" Billy asked. Alan nodded in confirmation while Charlotte shook her head.

"You don't have to ask my uncle permission."

Billy shrugged while he set up his camera, loading it with new film while putting his bag down onto a close desk.

Charlotte had decided to join Amanda looking at the cylinders. Most had dinosaurs in various stages of their life, they looked like toys in the murky water. They paused at one cylinder that held a raptor head. It looked so lifelike, and even more so as it moved between the glass to attack the two women.

"Amanda!" Paul screamed, trying to get to his ex.

"Charlotte! Back out! Move!" Alan called to the two as the team started running far from the creature.

"In here!" Paul yells at the group as he leads them to a room filled with cages.

"They locked them up. Uncle Grant!" Charlotte yelled as the group pushed their way into the room.

"Not the time to yell about the distreatment of animals Charlotte!"

"It's always the time!" She yelled back as she ran into the room.

They slammed to door shut but there was only a second of calm before they heard the sound of a raptor trying get in. They split up into different cages. Charlotte was separated from the group and ended up in her own cage. "typical." she muttered as she tried to hide herself in the furthest corner. She could hear Amanda yell push from a few cages down and the next thing she knew she was being ushered out of the building. As they escaped the room she paused with her uncle when they heard a familiar sound. It was a low rumbling coming from one of the velociraptors.

"She's calling for help." Her uncle said to her as she could only nod in astonishment.

As they reached the treelike they heard responses from multiple sides. They raptor in the cage was being avenged. The group stood the middle of the raptors, unable to see them the group spun around. Charlotte could only think about her impending doom until she saw the look of amazement in her uncle's face before realizing that this was what he believed in. He always knew that the raptors had a further developed communication tactics then other dinosaurs.

A small group of raptors emerged from the tree line as Alan yelled at them to head towards the trees. They keep running.


	10. Chapter 10

"This way!" Charlotte could hear her uncle yelling at them as he lead them away from the raptors. The group was a mess of heavy panting and scuffling feet as they were lead right into a group of hadrosaurs. Charlotte groaned as the dinos moved right past them but to everyone's panic, the velociraptors' sights were still set on the scared humans.

Alan motioned for all of them to go ahead of him and as they all practically tripped over each other tying to run away, Charlotte lost sight of her uncle. She saw Amanda and Paul to the left of her and she heard Billy catching up to her after falling but her uncle wasn't near them.

"Uncle Alan!" She yelled despite the unlikely chance of finding him.

"Alan!" Billy yelled as he got Charlotte's attention. She yelled for her uncle to come to them but he only responded by telling them to keep going.

As the hadrosaurs run past them Paul helps Amanda towards a tree. Billy motioned for Charlotte to get up but after seeing her struggle to grab on to something her pushed her up and followed closely behind. Udesky had made it to the base of the tree but as he grabbed hold of a branch and tried to climb up he became aware that he was surrounded by the raptors.

The four couldn't see him but they heard the terrifying screams of Udesky from somewhere below them.

"Udesky." Paul confirmed.

"He's this way." Amanda pointed at somewhere to the side of them. Charlotte stood up on the tree, desperate to get a look, not just of the man but also to see if she could spot her uncle anywhere. She sat back down with a sigh as she realized that she couldn't see anything besides the greenery on the ground floor.

Billy points at the tree next to them, clearing motioning for them to jump.

"You are crazy." Charlotte responded. "We can't jump to another tree."

"We have to find Udesky." He reasoned. They group moved over a few trees and just as they heard the strangled cry of the raptors they were able to spot Udesky. He was face down and moaning. The raptors seemed to have left so Amanda started her way down the length of the tree. Paul reached out for her to stop.

"It's not safe."

"We have to help him."

"He's right. A predator wouldn't leave a kill wounded." The ex-couple stopped as they let that knowledge sink in.

"He's not a kill, he's still alive." She got out of Pauls grip and started back down, she makes it to the ground when four raptors come from behind the foliage. She screams as Billy pushes Charlotte back and leans forward to help Amanda back up in the tree.

"They couldn't climb up, so they were trying to get us to come down." Charlotte nodded at the older man. She was shocked at the intelligence of these creatures.

"They set a trap. They actually set a trap." Billy looked gleeful and Charlotte couldn't help but burst his bubble.

"Billy. They're trying to kill us." He shrugged at her comment as he looked down to study the creatures. Charlotte thought they would never leave until a new cry was heard and they ran back into the forest.

"Where's Grant?" Paul questioned Charlotte. She shrugged as her voice cracked.

"Not here."

"We can't just stop looking. Eric and are out there somewhere." Amanda said as she rubbed the younger girls back.

"I want to find them too, but we can't do a bit of good right now. For every scary thing we saw in the daylight, I'll bet there ten times more of 'em at night." He turned to Billy. "Am I right?"

"I don't know."

"I thought you were an expert."

"Dr. Grant was."

"Well Dr. Grant isn't here, so we're going to have to figure out what to do ourselves." Charlotte smiled at the other woman's determination and Amanda looked proud of her optimism until she asked, "So what do we do?" and no one was able to respond.

Charlotte didn't think that it fully sunk in that her uncle was gone. She wanted to believe that he was okay and by the time morning came he would find them and they'd all get saved so she could go back home and see her family, but she knew that on this island it was better to expect the worst than be hopeful. After the death of Udesky and the realization that none of them knew what to do, the group separated. Amanda and Paul look up one branch of the tree and to the left of them a little higher was Charlotte and Billy.

Charlotte had never been scared of trees. Planes? Yes. Bees? Absolutely. But she had loved trees, she always would climb up and pretend that she was on the top of the world, back then she felt free. Now she just felt trapped.

"He'll be okay." Billy had tried to reassure her for the past few minutes, it wasn't helping.

" I won't get my hopes up. Can he really stand the chance alone?"

"I mean, he survived this before."

Charlotte gave Billy a small smile. "Has he told you what happened?"

Billy didn't know how to respond.

"He hasn't told me or Rachel anything so I was just curious. Most of the things i've heard were from Ellie."

"He's told me a bit. Mainly he just complained about not wanting to go back."

Charlotte laughed. "Too late now." She started peeling the bark off of the tree where she sat her back against the trunk. "I don't think he wants me here."

"I don't want you here, it's way too dangerous."

She gave him a look. "I mean in Montana. I told him I was coming back and I could hear his disappointment."

"What did you do? He loved you being here last was always glad to show off his 'progeny'." Billy sarcastically quipped. Her uncle had been happy that someone who loved dinosaurs as much as him had visited but she was barely a progeny. Despite her fascination she still found it hard to remember all the names and markings of the had been eager to learn and her uncle had been excited to teach her. Now her had just ran off and left her in Montana.

"I don't know I... I left. I left him." The realization hit her suddenly. It made sense. Back then she was almost a carbon copy of her uncle, they both lived for paleontology. He had always thought of himself as the last of his kind and she had always followed his example. They had always been lonely together.

"You left a lot of us."

She stuttered out a response that only sounded like a series of random syllables. She never thought she had made an impact on the fellow students.

"I didn't think he'd care if I left. And I didn't think anyone else would notice me gone."

"I mean, I know we weren't that close, but we all liked you. And I know the other girls had a plan to sneak you out of the site and take you to a couple of clubs."

"I uh.. I um." She laughed. "Thanks."

They both started laughing, but quickly quieted as the weight of where they were hit them. At night it was easier to grasp that they were in danger. Being in a stationary setting made Charlotte feel like there was no escape from her fears of being here.

"I'll tell you what. When we get back I'll take you out to actually see the town." Charlotte smiled at her companion in acceptance of his offer.

"That'd be nice."

Charlotte was finally able to get some sleep, the exhaustion of the day finally getting to her and after sharing the last of her food she was able to relax with a semi full stomach. The group needed a little privacy as they woke up but as soon as the four where ready Billy took the lead, telling them that they would have to continue to the coast.

"What about Eric and Dr. Grant?" Charlotte knew that Amanda's question was pointed at her but she had no energy to answer.

"Going to the coast was Alan's idea. If he's alive, that's where he's headed." Billy responded as he put a hand on Charlotte's shoulder. She ignored the fact that he had only mentioned her uncle and not the kid.

"What about Eric?" Amanda questioned while Charlotte winced. She held her tongue to avoid arguing with the blonde. Just yesterday she was ready to comfort the woman, to give her any reassurance that her son was alive. But now all Charlotte felt was hopelessness. She had seen what the dinosaurs had done to Udesky. She found it hard to believe that any of them would make it out alive.

"He's probably has a better chance by the coast as it is. Figures that all the big dinosaurs would live in the center of the island." Paul rationalized to his ex wife before turning to the other two who had begun whispering. "Right?"

"Sure." Billy responded as they continued down the path.


	11. Chapter 11

The walk towards the coast was fairly easy, the path was flat with very few stones and the scenery was beautiful to look at. Charlotte tried to see the good things about the plants were pretty, the sky was clear and there was something fresher about the air. It would be a gorgeous place to die. That thought had been bouncing around her head as she started to lose hope that they'd make it out alive. She tried to even her breathing as Paul tripped for the hundredth time. Amanda stopped so abruptly that Charlotte almost ran into her from where she was dragging her feet.

A loud ringing could be heard as the group all stopped to search the area.

"Is that..."

"My phone." Paul answered Charlotte question as he frantically searched the insides of his pockets.

"You had the phone the whole time?"

"Where is it?"

"I don't know. I don't have it with me." Charlotte began searching her backpack for the phone.

"It's not in my pack."

"When did you have it last?" Amanda questioned them both. Charlotte gave her an annoyed look.

"I never had it."

"I don't remember."

"Think."

Paul concentrated as the ringing got louder and group exchanged irritated looks at one another as they watched Pauls scrunched up face.

"The plane. I got a call on the plane, put it in my coat pocket, and..." The expression on his face turned from concentration to a sad realization.

"What?...WHAT!?"

"I loaned it to Nash. He must have had it on him when he..."

The realization of where the phone was hit the four at the same time.

"Great." Charlotte said as she ran a hand through her hair. "Just great."

"Mom! Dad!" Charlotte could barely hear a someone screaming at the group. She spotted her uncle and the boy the same time that Amanda and Paul did. They broke out in smiles, looking at each other.

"He's alive." They whispered as they tried their hardest to stay in their spot. They had just noticed the fact that a large dinosaur stood between them and their son. Charlotte could see Amanda slowly inching forward.

Charlotte was less quiet though. She screamed a strangled cry of relief as she saw her uncle standing there. Immediately after recognizing her mistake her hand flew to her mouth, giving Billy a panicked look as the Kirby's expressions told her to shut up.

There are a few moments of silence while all the members of the group stare at each other through the clearing. It felt like hours had passed, the lack of movement was becoming unbearable when a shrill sound of a phone cut through the air.

With the sound of the phone the dinosaur started moving away from both parties. With the danger gone Charlotte watched as Eric started running towards his parents. Charlotte gave in and ran to meet her uncle. She stopped just in front of him before hesitantly wrapping her arms around him.

"I thought you died." She whispered as her uncle returned the hug. "These things will never kill me." He responded as she laughed.

Charlotte glanced at the Kirby's as she let go of her uncle, wiping at the tears on her cheeks. Billy walked up to the two.

"We need to keep moving." Her uncle said before Billy could say anything.

"Boy am I glad to see you." Billy breathed out at his mentor. "Hey you got my bag. Want me to carry it?" As Billy asked these questions Alan continued to give him a look and shut him out. Charlotte exchanged looks between the two, not understanding her uncles sudden personality shift.

Alan slowly began unzipping the bag. Charlotte could see Billy visibly pale the content of the bag was revealed. Charlotte looked over to see raptor eggs filling the brim.

"Raptor eggs." Her uncle announced in a calm, even voice. "Did you steal raptor eggs? Now it all makes sense." She could see her uncle's intern wince at his tone.

"I swear, if id known you were going to end up with them," He stopped as soon as he realized how that sounded. "It was an impulse, I thought they'd be worth a fortune, enough to fund the dig site for ten more years. It was a bad decision but I made it with the best intentions."

"Sometimes the worst things imaginable have been done with the best intentions. As far as I'm concerned your no better than the people that built this place." He looked over at the eggs, one had broken, covering the others with the unborn embryo.

"You can't just take them Billy!" Charlotte faced her friend. "These animals live her, their life is here. If you brought these back they'd be experimented on!"

"Not to mention the danger we are in." Charlotte nodded in affirmation, eyes growing wide as she imagined the possible danger the raptor eggs would create.

Alan walked away, motioning for the Kirby's to follow him. Charlotte hesitated as she stood near Billy but quickly followed her uncle.

"Charlotte, wait!" She heard behind her, stopping she turned to glare at the man who had called her.

"What?"

"I was trying to help."

"Help what? The site? There are other ways to get money. Fundraisers, car washes, haircuts. Not stealing dinosaur eggs!"

"I know. Call me an idiot. An asshole. Stupid. Tell me I screwed up because I know I did." He tried reasoning with her as she walked away, following her uncle.

"What you did wasn't right." She sighed, her anger diminishing slightly as she saw the regret in Billy's expression. "I guess I understand why you did this though." With that she sped up to increase the distance between the two, deciding she needed to cool off.

They walked for hours in silence. The Kirby's seemed entirely uninterested in why there was tension between the other three were in their own world. She could see Amanda pressing down at Eric's messy hair a he pulled his body away while his father laughed. Occasionally Charlotte would look back at Billy, who had started walking behind her and Alan and saw him glancing at his camera bag. Charlotte was just about to grab it and throw it when a large structure emerges in thieir sight. They continue the trek inside the building. It was covered in windows to look out at the canyon beyond it, but unfortunately the thick fog wouldn't allow the group to see anything far away.

Alan look down a spiral staircase, slightly discouraged that there was nothing to see. but lead the group down it

" We climb down to the barge and follow the river out to the ocean. With any luck, the Costa Rican coast guard will pick us up."

"Then we go home?" The young boy asked his mother who squeezed him against her.

The group continued down to the ramp but stopped as Alan started down the stairs only to have them break under his feet. Luckily Paul had been close behind him and pulled him out of harms way. Charlotte could hear the clanging of the staircase fall down the ravine.

"You okay?" Amanda asked as Charlotte gasped, stepping towards her uncle.

He nodded in response. "How about if we try this way?" Charlotte looked to his side and saw a catwalk coming out of the mist. The thought of walking across to the unknown terrified Charlotte but she tried not to let the fact discourage her.

"Do you think it goes all the way across?"

"One way to find out." She heard her uncle respond to Amanda. Both of them step on the catwalk ready to make the march across. A slight creak came from the catwalk as they both froze.

"We'd better do this one at a time." Alan said, motioning for his niece to go ahead of him.

"Oh. Okay." She responded when Billy gave her a light push towards the path but not before sending her uncle a concerned look.

She walked slowly, carefully putting one foot in front of the other. It wasn't long before she made it across, sighing in relief before calling out that she had made it over. Her uncle was the next person she saw as he walked across with much more confidence than she had.

"Come on over. One at a time."

"Okay! Come on, Eric!" Amanda had appeared out of the fog, shaking so bad that Charlotte rubbed her back trying to get the older woman to breathe more evenly.

"That was terrifying." She responded to Charlotte's comfort.

"I know."

They heard the quiet voices on the remaining members followed by the sound of footprints not far away. As the three were waiting for the next member to successfully cross the bridge they heard Eric call out, "mom".


	12. Chapter 12

"Oh, my God." Alan muttered as he looked down at his hands, which were covered in a white substance. He quickly wiped his hands on his cargo pants as the two women next to him looked over.

"What is it?""What?" Amanda and Charlotte asked together, wearing equally confused expressions.

"It's a bird cage." Charlotte's mouth opened at the realization that her favorite dinosaurs were trapped in a cage, with six humans and despite her admiration for the creature their odds didn't look good.

She barely registered the fact that they were actually endanger when a scream echoed through the fog. Amanda immediately froze, knowing that the sound they heard came from her son.

Charlotte made eye contact with the woman just before she started running across the bridge. Alan hesitated before realizing that his niece had run after the mother.

"Paul! Where is he? Can you see him?" Tears ran down Amanda's face as she questioned her ex'-husband.

"I'm trying! That thing took him down this way!" He recalled pointing towards the fog.

"Split up!" Alan told them.

They stood over the observation platform, looking for the boy from all different angles. Charlotte almost gave up on finding him when she noticed Billy staring a little ways down the canyon.

She ran over to where he was standing. "Did you find him?"

"Hmm." He responded, distracted.

"Billy! Wait!" She heard her uncle shout, noticing that Billy was leaning dangerously over the side. She grabbed him arm to pull him back but he quickly got out of her grasp.

"I can get him!" He yelled at her uncle who was too far away to help her. he ignore her attempts to grab his arm, softly swatting her hand away.

"Billy, no!" Charlotte tried pulling him back but her small frame and lack of arm strength weren't helping. "You can't go in there, you're going to be attacked."

"I have to help the kid, Charlotte. I can't let him die. " And with one final look at her he smiled as their eyes met in understanding. you can always say how you'd be willing to sacrifice yourself for someone else but when the moment comes, many rarely do.

"No!"

"I know the consequences!" He yelled at her uncle before falling off the railing. Charlotte screamed as she saw his body plummet towards the ground until suddenly he was saying. The parachute they had found earlier was open.

There were a couple of times where Charlotte was sure that he was going to crash onto the canyon wall but eventually he circled Eric. His first attempt proved to be too high for Eric to reach. "Eric! Hold on!" The next trip resulted in Eric jumping on to Billy's legs as they were chased by a pterondon

As Paul tried to find a place to jump off and help Billy retrieve his son a large pteranodon jumped on the catwalk. Charlotte had followed her uncle and Amanda who were walking towards Paul when the dinosaur landed. There it stood next to the mesh, snapping its beak at them.

Charlotte found a discarded branch and aimed it towards the creature but just as she was about to hit it, the side of the catwalk it was on gave out and it fell down.

That resulted in their side flipping over laterally. The group held onto the sides of the catwalk. Charlotte felt her self losing her grip. She felt too heavy and too weak. Without a second thought she discarded her backpack full of her books and water and maintained a better grip.

As the dinosaur made its way towards the four, they desperately moved away. But the pressure on the catwalk was too much and as it broke down it sent them towards the river at the bottom of the canyon.

Charlotte broke the surface of the water, spitting out what had gotten in her mouth and almost hyperventilating at what had just happened.

"Uncle Grant!" She yelled, frantically looking around.

"I'm here Charlotte." She heard from somewhere on her left.

She saw Paul and Amanda emerge next to the canyon was and she heard a screech as Amanda tackled her son.

"Where is Billy?!" She yelled over to her uncle who had going the three.

Her uncle pointed at a struggling figure attached to the canyon wall. "oh no." She whispered. She was reminded of the titan Prometheus who was punished by being chained to a rock for eternity, having his liver eaten out by a bird everyday and waiting for it to slowly regenerate. The flock of pteranodons proved to be just as relentless as the eagle.

A large pteranodon lunged at him almost taking out half his face but luckily he had the foresight to dodge as well as he could. This movement resulted in the harness being broken as Billy fell into the river.

"He made it!" Her uncle said astonished as she let out a happy screech. As they saw Billy's head emerge from the water he waved and started his way towards the group. All of them equally excited, the five ran towards their almost lost companion. Alan kept smiling while Charlotte cried but everything seemed okay. That was until Alan noticed the entire flock of pteranodons diving down towards his intern.

"Billy, look out!" Billy turned around at his mentors words running forwards while shouting at the others to get back.

The lead pteranodon dove down, its beak hitting purposely on Billy's head, reminding Charlotte of a less serious instance involving a bird flying down to hit her cat's head. This action knocked Billy down back into the water. The rest followed the leaders example. Charlotte screamed and started running towards him only to be pulled back by her uncle.

"Billy!" He screamed as he made his way towards the young man.

"It's no use, Dr. Grant. No use." Paul tried sympathizing with Alan, who had was still screaming, echoing the word "Billy". Alan, who was holding her back from getting closer kept feeling Charlotte almost leave his grasp. Her desperation to get to the boy was almost unbearable for her uncle to hear. He knew Paul was right, there was nothing to do. All he did was watch his favorite students' blood filled up the river while not letting go of his niece.

He shoved Charlotte under the water as several pteranodons made their way towards the trio. She knew to follow them so when they finally resurfaced for air they were safe from the most determined of the pteranodons.

Amanda had found a small boat and motioned for the girl to get on. Her uncle and Paul had already climbed into it but she was having trouble. Her uncle grabbed her arms like a child and pulled her up to safety. She sat next to Eric who had given her a sympathetic smile, which she returned before staring at the spot where her friend just was.


	13. Chapter 13

As the boat took them downstream they were finally able to see the full extent of the aviary. Charlotte had to admit that it was a beautiful structure. She hated it because it kept these dinosaurs encaged and stole one of her friends but she couldn't help but be impressed at the striking architecture.

"My own kid was right in front of me and I didn't do a damn thing." Charlotte heard Paul say as she forced her attention from the giant cage.

"You couldn't have made that jump."

"I should have tried. It should have been me on that beach back there, not Billy." Charlotte tensed at the mention of her friend and out of the corner one her eye she saw her uncle look down.

"How would you have helped Eric?" There was no answer. "He needs you, Paul. He needs us."

"He could have died." Paul replied quietly, not wanting his son to hear these words.

"But he didn't. And neither did you. And I'm glad about that."

"I'm sorry Charlotte." She glanced over at the woman who spoke. The blonde looked guilty and for a second Charlotte wanted to yell, to scream at the Kirbys for dragging her uncle and Billy into this situation. She would have yelled, if she were her sister, but she was too tired. She had never been good at confrontation.

She was only able to form a small smile in response.

Charlotte moved from the Kirby's in favor of sitting with her uncle and Eric. Her uncle looked devastated and exhausted. Eric just looked guilty, which Charlotte noticed made him look more like his mother.

"Do you have any kids?" Eric asked her uncle who glanced over at Charlotte.

"No. Although I've studied them in the wild. And I have two nieces." Eric looked over at Charlotte, confused by what her uncle meant.

"I have a sister. And he's watched us in our natural habitat plenty of times." Charlotte added along to her uncle's comparison of children being wild animals. At this point Eric looked even more confused at the analogy.

"Do you have kids?" He directed the question at the brunette.

"God no." She stopped when she saw the hurt expression on Eric's face. "They're fine I just, I'm not good with them." He nodded in understanding.

"I have a theory that there's two kinds of boys." Her uncle interjected. "Those who want to be astronomers and those who want to be astronauts."

"Or girls." Charlotte added, making her uncle smile.

"Or girls."

"I want to be an astronaut." Eric answered with certainty, smiling at his adventurous side.

"See, I was the opposite. I never understood why anyone would want to go into space. It's so dangerous. You do one thing wrong and you're dead. The astronomer - or the paleontologist -get to study these amazing things from a place of complete safety. And truthfully, everything you really need to learn, you can learn it from the ground."

"But then you never get to go in space." Eric said sadly.

"Exactly. The difference between imagining how things might be and seeing how they really are. To be able to touch them. That's what Billy wanted to do. That's why Charlotte came, that's what she wanted."

Charlotte nodded as Eric looked at her. "Life is too short to only look at stars."

As the boat goes around a bend and they are treated with an extraordinary sight. Eric gasps.

"I can blame the people who made this island. But I can't blame the people who want to see it. To study it." Alan isn't sure if anyone is even listening, all he wants is to organize his thoughts. Charlotte now sees what Eric gasped at now as the boat started slowing down. Just in front of them lays a large valley filled with dinosaurs. There was no fighting, no enclosures and no people. It hit Charlotte that they were looking back at what life was like millions of years ago. It was the purest form of dinosaurs they would ever see.

"How's a boy suppose to resist this?" Her uncle finished his thought, staring wistfully at the scene in front of them.

During the next few hours all the members of the group were able to get some well deserved sleep. The Kirby's elected to take first watch, as they wanted time with their son. Charlotte had no argument against their suggestion and was quickly able to fall asleep. Alan was a little more apprehensive but agreed with the promise of being woken up in two hours. She curled up on the side of the boat clutching her empty bag and falling asleep to the sounds of distant birds, trying anything to not think about the lives they had lost. When it was Charlotte and Alan's turn to stay awake they both remained silent until Charlotte couldn't take the quiet anymore.

"I know why you hate me." Charlotte breathed out. She meant to slowly lead a conversation into this topic but she knew her uncle appreciated straightforwardness rather than fluff. Regardless, she winced at the bluntness of her statement, daring to take a quick glance at her uncle who froze for a moment.

"I don't hate you." He responded, looking at the girl as if she'd grown a second head.

"Okay, not hate but, like, you didn't want me at the dig site."

He sighed. "I don't know how to treat you. or your sister. You just grow up too fast. One moment I'm reading Dr. Seuss and the next both of you are wearing makeup and driving." He took a moment. "I just figured when you called you were running away from something and I wasn't sure that I was the best guy to help."

She thought back to what made her decide to move back. Her job was fine, boring and repetitive, but fine. It was secure with health benefits and financial stability still, when she thought of going back she felt like she was unable to breathe. "I was running towards something, I think."

"I know." Alan responded, a genuine but hesitant smile across his face.

The Kirby's woke up a little after Alan and Charlotte's heartfelt conversation which had ended rather abruptly and resulted in a comfortable silence. Paul situated himself behind the wheel as Amanda held on to Eric. He slowly makes his way around a shallow barges the sound of the sat phone rings out in the air.

"Keep quiet." Paul cut out the motor as the five stand still. They keep holding their breath until the finally made it around the barge to see a huge pile of dinosaur droppings.

Charlotte laughed in relief as the boat slows towards the land. Alan, Amanda and Paul climbed out of the boat. Charlotte scrunches up her face in disgust as the trio plunge their hands into the droppings.

"I've got something. I think I've got something!" She could hear Paul yell. Eric started smiling, glancing at Charlotte who gave a nod back to the boy.

Eric stood up on the boat looking out into the murky water. "Something moved." He whispered to Charlotte who gave him a concerned look and stood from her seat on the boat floor.

"What is that?" He asked again. This question got the attention of the other members, who began searching the dark water.

Just then multiple fish jumped out of the water, causing Charlotte to screech and Eric to jump.

"Bonitas."

"Something must've scared them." Eric stated as a roll of thunder was heard.

"Get the motor going." Her uncle demanded as the remaining three jumped into the boat. He picks up the phone and starts dialing.

" Who are you calling?" Amanda questions, gaining no response. She looks over at Charlotte who shrugged in response. She wasn't sure anyone would even be able to get the message.

"Pick up! Pick up!" He repeated.

"Charlie? Charlie. Get your mother. Right away! Charlie? Are you there?" The Kirby's looked over at Charlotte, obviously recognizing the mention of her nickname.

"Another Charlie." She reminded to their questioning looks.

Charlotte suddenly spotted a giant fin making it's way towards the boat.

"Charlie! It's the dinosaur man! Go get mommy, okay?"He looks realized for a moment before a look of frustration takes over his features. He begins to redial as the boat is suddenly hit. A spinosaurus rises from the water, roaring as it luges for Alan. The next few minutes are complete chaos as the wheelhouse of the boat is torn off and the boat quickly bitten into chunks. Alan heads towards Charlotte who is making her way towards the Kirby's when the phone rings.

"Ellie!" Charlotte can hear her uncle cry as the rest scream.


	14. Chapter 14

**Thanks to everyone who has viewed this story! I really appreciate all the follows, favorites and reviews. **

**If anyone was wondering why this story differs from the film, while i mostly added dialogue, I am following the original script (the only one I could find on the internet). I debated whether or not to take sme scenes out but i ultimately felt like they fit into the story. **

Charlotte saw her uncle throw the phone is frustration as he made his way into the dinosaur cage to join the remaining members who had hidden themselves in a cage. They are thrown around by the dinosaur so ferociously that Charlotte wouldn't be able to see what was happening, regardless of the darkness. The next thing she knew they were being thrown back into the water. As the cage started sinking Paul was able to secure as he was the first out of the cage door. Charlotte felt him grab her hand, as she swam closest to him, leading her out of the cage as well. She tried in vain to reach out to the person closest to her only to fail as the cage landed door down in the water.

Charlotte and Paul fought the bars in hopes of providing any pressure to break. Soon both had started to feel the affects of lack of oxygen. charlotte broke the surface first.

"We need to get them out!" She yelled at the older man.

"I know!" He yelled back as water got into his mouth. "Go back down in 1, 2, 3." The reentered the cold depths pushing at the cage. Eventually they were bale to tip the structure over.

Charlotte saw her uncle, Amanda and Eric make it out as she swam towards them. The spinosaurus hadn't completed its revenge and in attempt to defeat the group it took the cage and a frightened Paul and threw them straight out of the water.

"Paul."

"Dad!"

"Up! Up!" Alan called out grabbing the groups attention towards a large crane. Amanda wasted no time in pushing Eric up the length of it. Amanda followed closely behind and Charlotte hesitated, making sure her uncle would follow them up. He urged her ahead as she started to climb.

"Where's Dad?" Eric calls out as the group frantically searches the surrounding area.

"Just hold on." His mother reminded him as the dinosaur rammed into the crane, unable to climb but still able to damage the machine the humans were on.

Charlotte saw her uncle struggling to find something in his pack.

"Now isn't the time to write notes." She called out at him. She was met with no answer but an extremely familiar sound. In her uncle's hand held the resonating chamber of a velociraptor. The Spinosaurus stops for a moment before continuing to ram into the crane. Just as the crane was on its last legs another cry is heard.

A raptor appears from the darkness as the spinosaur pauses. More raptors came out to surround the lone one. The survivors watched in fascination as they observed these dinosaurs interact. None of them are quite sure what to do. Charlotte contemplated the decision to jump and swim for it but realized that the dinosaurs would find her more interesting. There was a first time for everything. Suddenly the raptors attack the spiosaurus. the sight was full of angry teeth and blood as the raptors climbed on the larger creatures back.

"Jump! Swim for the far shore!" Alan shouted as they fell, one by one, into the dark water.

As soon as they made it to shore Charlotte collapsed on the ground.

"Are you okay?" Amanda rushed over holding the younger girls head in her hands.

"Yeah." She nodded as she slowly stood up only to waiver slightly. "Just dizzy." Alan walked over to see a large bruise on the side of her head.

"Concussion." He affirmed. She nodded as they stood debating what to do.

"We have to keep looking for Dad. We have to." Eric yelled out at the quiet adults.

"I know. I know. I want to look for him too." Amanda comforted her son.

"Then we should..." Amanda knelt down looking the young boy in the eyes. Charlotte can tell that she was upset. She's upset and tired and worried but she's holding it together for her son. Charlotte couldn't do that. She was just about ready to cry because of all the things they had seen, all the deaths they had witnessed. Her admiration for the woman grew, despite the fact that her determination to find her son would most likely get them killed.

"Let me tell you a few things about you Dad, okay? He's very very very clever, very very brave, and he loves you ever very much."

"He loves you too." Eric relies to her mother, unaware of the double meaning behind his words.

"Okay. He loves us very very much. And I know that right now more than anything, your Dad would want to know that we're safe. Okay?" Eric nodded. "We're going to get out of this, and everything's going to be all right, I promise."

"Listen to your mother." Charlotte's head whipped around as Paul Kirby walked out of the darkness. Eric ran towards his father, tackling him into a hug.

"Good thing I've been swimming, huh?" Amanda joined the hug as they all laughed.

As they broke away from the embrace Alan gave Paul a curt nod and a pat on the back.

"I'm glad you're okay Paul." Charlotte smiled at him but she couldn't escape the image of Billy returning with the other man, free from any Pterosaurs.

They continued their trek as they were finally able to reach the beach. It seemed to go on for miles and the group was feeling even more hopeless. The past few hours had been filled with the Kirby's swapping stories from various vacations they had experienced. Paul did most of the talking as Amanda smiled along. Charlotte had stopped listening a few miles back. She wasn't sure if she was still moving. Her head felt fuzzy and her legs had turned into lead. She walked alongside her uncle who had remained quiet.

You remember when we went fishing last summer? And I was trying to put the boat in and the trailer sank? And then the tow truck came and tried to pull it out, but it got dragged in? And the truck driver threatened to knock your Dad's lights out? So I said I was the governor and he believed me?"

"Yeah." Eric smiled at his father. Charlotte noticed Amanda smiling too as she looked at her ex husband.

"That was a fun day."

"We should try fishing again." Amanda suggested quietly.

"You mean it?"

"I do. It's worth another shot. And who knows? Things might turn out differently." Charlotte noticed them grass each others hand. Charlotte's body shot up the same time her uncles did. They wordlessly walked away from the intimate family moment. Eric must have felt uncomfortable with the fluffy conversation as he soon greeted the two who were walking down the beach.

"The lady you called, how do you know she can help us?" Charlotte shrugged.

"She's the one person I could always count on. And she's saved me more times than she realizes. I owe her everything." Charlotte gave her uncle a sad smile. It was clear to her and everyone around them that Alan and Ellie still shared a deep connection with each other. Maybe it was the survival of Jurassic Park. Shared trauma could bring the allusion of attachment.

"It's strikes me now I never told her that."

"You should." Eric urged Alan as he glanced up at his idol.

"Maybe if you did things would be different."

"Maybe you're right." He quieted as Charlotte picked up a few sticks, handing one to Eric and started fake sword fighting with them. She faked an injury, smiling as Eric held up the "sword" in triumph.

"Eric, do you know what happened to the boat? that brought you here? Why did it crash?" Alan asked the boy as he turned around.

"No. I couldn't see."

"Do me a favor. Go back to your parents for a minute, would you? They look worried." He stalked off to his parents as Charlotte gave her uncle a questioning glance.

"What was that?" He pointed towards the speedboat. Charlotte immediately recognized it as the one that Eric had parasailed on. She dropped her shoulders, giving her uncle an exasperated look.

"Really?"


	15. Chapter 15

Eric nodded and headed back to his parents, who luckily for the others, were too far away to notice the destroyed speed boat. Charlotte and Alan surveyed the wreckage of the boat. There wasn't anything specific they were looking for, assuming that the radio was destroyed but it was worth a shotAll they were able to find on the boat were scraps of torn clothing and a few bottles of sunscreen. As they slowly made their way towards the rest of the group they were met by a group of raptors.

They stood close to each other, unmoving and breathing heavily as the raptors circled around couldn't help but notice that her uncle's eyes still focused on the raptors in fascination. There used to be a time where her favorite dinosaurs had been the velociraptor, in an attempt to be more like her uncle.

"They want the eggs." Alan whispered to the group as they all clung to each other. "Everyone get down, She's challenging us." The group slowly made their way down towards the ground, holding to each other for support as they squatted. Charlotte did her best to not look the raptors in the eyes. She feared that if she so much as glanced at them she would be too paralyzed to run.

Charlotte heard the movement of a raptor and Amanda's quick intake of breath. She looked over to the other woman who, like Charlotte, was avoiding looking the dinosaur in the eyes. However the dinosaur had stopped right in front of the blonde and was regarding her with its beady eyes.

"She thinks you stole the eggs." Alan pointed out to Amanda as the raptor hissed at Paul, who had tried getting between his ex wife and the animal. He slowly backed up as Charlotte moved further from the other woman.

"Give me the eggs." Amanda's voice was louder and more even than Charlotte expected it to be. Alan carefully pushed the eggs over to the woman who put them in front of her. Charlotte's uncle then spotted the resonating chamber of the velociraptor. Still frozen, Charlotte could only see her uncle pick up the piece before hearing a cry. The raptors started screeching at each other, becoming restless as the group whispered to Alan to call for help. The raptors looked at each other, Charlotte could hear a little thrill from one of the raptors as they grabbed the eggs one by one and ran off.

Charlotte let out a sigh in relief as her eyes met her uncles. He smiled at her then looked over at the Kirby's who had embraced as Eric beamed before being grabbed by his mother.

Just as they returned to their trek they started to hear the sounds of engines. Th noise was close enough that when the group stepped out of the foliage they were met with their way home. They had reached the ocean they were greeted by a man with a megaphone. "Dr. Grant," he yelled towards the group. "Dr. Alan Grant."

Amanda stiffened as the group ran towards the him yelling at the man to be quiet yelling, "that's a bad idea" before dozens of military vehicles and tanks emerged. There were helicopters flying above them and boats holding hundreds of people packed in with guns.

"If any dinosaur tried to chase us I think we'd be fine." Charlotte told the others with a soft smile.

"You have to thank her now." Eric told Alan.

"God bless you Ellie." He whispered as they started walking.

"We better head over before the entire island is against us." He uncle pointed out. No member of the group was opposed to leaving. Despite her never ending dizzy spell, Charlotte had never had more energy. Everyone in the group had forgotten their exhaustion as they walked towards safety.

As soon as they reached the helicopter the pilot tried in vain to let them know what was happening. All Charlotte could make out was a few words like "flew... around and wings". They were motioned towards another helicopter after seeing that the one closest to them was filled with a group of men in cameo and carrying guns.

"Is this man with you?" Charlotte heard one of the colonel's ask her uncle as they stepped onto the aircraft.

Charlotte froze as she thought of who else could be on the island. She looked to where the man was pointing to see Billy laying on a gurney.

"Oh my god!" She screamed as she rushed over to him, stopping before she could embrace him. He looked bad. Deep cuts ran along his arms and face and he was significantly paler than she had remembered him. He seemed in high spirits as he shouted her name, smiling as he noticed her shocked face.

"You're not dead!" She shouted half in disbelief and half in happiness.

"Neither are you." He pointed out, making her laugh in response.

She looked away from her uncle's smiling face when she felt Billy's hand grab her own. "I rescued your hat." He told Alan, reaching his other hand out and giving the older man his beloved hat back.

"That's the important thing." He answered as the pilot called back towards the group.

"Taking off in 30 seconds." Charlotte looked over to Billy, giving his hand one more squeeze before settling in the seat closest to him and buckling in. Despite her hatred for helicopters she was able to lay back and relax. She shared a smile with Amanda and laughed with Eric in relief as the copter took off.

"The hell is that?" Charlotte heard from the front of the helicopter. She turned her head to look out the window.

"Dr. Grant look!"

"What is it?" Billy asked her, unable to move his head.

She winced and paused for a moment. "Looks like pterosaurs." He hummed in response.

"My favorite."

"Where do you think they're going?" Eric asked. Charlotte shrugged and his parents shook their heads.

"Probably looking for new nesting grounds. It's a whole new world around them." alan answered the young boy.

"Well I dare them to nest near Enid, Oklahoma." Charlotte looked at Billy and the two started laughing. She had never been to Oklahoma but if she were a dinosaur she knew she'd be more attracted to the bright lights of a city rather than the countryside. Shortly after Amanda and Paul joined in laughter as Eric smiled and Alan grinned. The comfort in knowing that they had survived was lifting their spirits.

"Let's go home." Paul said, glancing at Amanda who met his eyes, sharing a small smile with her ex husband.

The rest of the group nodded in affirmation as the helicopter continued to fly through the sky. The pterosaurs kept them company until the helicopter landed on a naval ship in the center of the ocean. They exited the helicopter one by one. They were quickly surrounded by numerous medics, each being pulled away in different directions.

"I'm okay." Charlotte tried reassuring the medic who was holding a light to her eyes.

"We think she has a concussion." Charlotte saw her uncle appear by her side. "And she hasn't eaten in a few days."

"Of course." The medic replied as Charlotte rolled her eyes. The two were left alone as the medic ran to get water.

"Must be new to rescuing people from dinosaurs." Charlotte laughed at her uncle.

"Where did they take Billy?"

"His injuries were more excessive than ours. I think he's just getting his cutes cleaned." He answered as she nodded. "There's also some people to see you." She looked at him in confusion before seeing a group of four people out of the corner of her eye.

"No," She she shrunk. "they're here?" The next thing she knew her name was being yelled in four different octaves and her uncle was nowhere to be seen.

**The End**

**This marks the end of the movie. I wanted to thank everyone who had read and followed this story. As of right now I have written a brief epilogue introducing some more characters like Charlotte's parents and sister. **


	16. Chapter 16

**Hi everyone! I decided on posting a few chapters of an epilogue as a way to organize what I decided happened after the event of the film. I have added some new characters and decided on some face claims, Rachel Chung (Candice King), Greg Chung (Steven Yeun), Sally Daley (Juliane Moore) and John Daley (Clive Owen). **

"Oh my god!" Charlotte could hear her sister scream as she stood looking at her family. A blur of long, blonde hair whipped across her face as she was enveloped in a huge hug. Charlotte had never been the kind of touchy person that the rest of her family was so when she felt her sister she froze up.

"Can't breathe." She choked out as her sister held her back to examine her.

"Are you okay?" She asked more seriously, taking note of Charlotte's numerous cuts and a bandage on her arm.

"I'm fine. Just get off me."

"Honey! Are you okay?" Charlotte's mother and stepfather joined the hug, only leaving her sister's fiancé, Greg, off to the side, though he still looked glad that she was alive.

"Hi Greg." She said in an attempt to get her family off of her. It worked and her sister soon disengaged to stand next to her fiancé, holding onto his arm.

Apparently after Alan called Ellie and she had notified Mark, who worked with the state department, her next decision was calling Charlotte's sister and parents. They were expected to meet the group once the plane landed.

Unfortunately, she was still being petted like a cat by her mother despite her attempt to separate herself. Though Charlotte had to admit that seeing her family was worth the torture of the human touch.

"Honey, we should get you home you look sick."

"I'm okay. I still need to talk to Ellie." Charlotte complained as she tried separating herself from her parents.

Charlotte rolled her eyes when their grips tightened and searched the area for her uncle. She saw him being embraced by Ellie as Mark stood next to them, waving at one of the pilots. As if sensing her eyes he looked down at Charlotte and in the position she was in and walked over.

"Sally, John , Rachel, Greg." He greeted as Rachel flung herself onto her uncle.

"Uncle Alan!" she yelled. He politely nodded as she pulled away, clearly unamused by her excitement.

Charlotte's mother looked just like her when she was angry. Her green eyes were narrowed as she stood in front of her brother.

"What were you thinking," she slapped her brother's chest. "Bringing my daughter to a dangerous island."

"Sally, I'm sorry. We were never supposed to land."

"Mom. It was a huge misunderstanding." Sally looked doubtful but stepped back, giving her daughter and brother some time to breathe. Charlotte's stepfather, John, was a mild mannered man and he grabbed Sally's arm in an attempt to calm her down. Fortunately for the other members of the family this worked.

Rachel stood by her sister, desperate for her uncle's attention as she conversed about her recent successes in life, which involved her recent engagement and new promotion. Charlotte nodded along eagerly as her sister announced her accomplishments.

" That's nice, Rachel." Their uncle answered in a vague tone. "Charlotte, Billy is asking for you." Alan turned to his youngest niece. He noticed her visibly relax as she nodded.

"Billy is here?" Rachel turned her attention to her twin. "Billy Brennan?"

"Shut up. And I told you he was stuck on the island too." Charlotte responded as she followed her uncle.

"No you didn't!" Her sister yelled as the two started walking away.

"Thank you. They were killing me."

He nodded at her. "I could tell. Billy actually does want to see you."

"Oh." Charlotte stopped walking. "Is he okay?" Her uncle narrowed his eyes in confusion at the young women. "I'm not good with," She waved her hands around. "any of this."

Her uncle put his hand on her shoulder. "It's okay."

"I need to thank Ellie. I just don't really want to remember what happened."

"I'll let her know." He responded to his nervous niece as she walked along side him.

"Cool." She followed her uncle down the hallway.

He opened the door for her and excused himself, muttering that he had to apologize again to his sister.

"Hey." She whispered as she walked towards one of the gurneys. Billy had been brought to the infirmary at the base. His injuries were extensive and despite the almost mummy like wrapping the medics had given him his cuts were still fairly deep. He was currently going through a bag of blood paired with fluids.

"Hey." He smiled as she made her way towards the bed. "How are you doing?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you that." She smiled. "But I'm okay. Surviving just seems surreal."

He laughed. "Trust me, almost dying feels more surreal."

"Yeah? Did you see life after death?" She questioned, part as a joke but her curiosity won out.

"No white gates or clouds. I was just numb." He shrugged as he looked towards the bag above him. Charlotte could tell that he was keeping something, she wanted to press on, to find out what, but she didn't know how to ask. " I'll probably have scars for the rest of my life."

"Well chicks dig scars." Her eyes widened as she said that and she felt her face heat up. "Oh my god. I didn't mean... I mean.. no.. it's..whatever. I don't like pterodactyls anymore." As she was desperately trying to cover up her awkward phrasing she heard laugher coming from the young man. "Besides, you'll have a good story to tell."

"You need to relax." He joked as he threw an ice chip at her. "Sit down. you're sleep deprived and survived multiple dinosaur runs." She glanced around for a chair but stopped when she heard Billy pat the spot next to him. She rolled her eyes but decided to lay down anyway. Situating herself so the IV was save she put her head down.

"So, chicks dig scars."

"Nope, never said that." Charlotte woke up a few hours later, according to the clock on the wall nearest to them. She carefully crawled out of the small bed to see Billy still fast asleep. unfortunately through the night some of his cuts opened causing red stains to appear on the gauze. It took a surprisingly long time to track down a nurse who could check up on Billy but once she did Charlotte went back to her designated room.

According to the people she had talked to they would be pulling into a navy base in a few hours. Though they hadn't been specifics assumed that their estimation of fifteen hours still stood. The room was bland with a bed, a dresser and a small mirror. There wasn't much to do and Charlotte realized how bored she was. Her sister had to be around the ship somewhere and despite her not wanting to aimlessly wander around the ship, she had no choice. Leaving her room, she started walking the circumference of it. Luckily for her she saw Ellie, leaning against a railing, looking out at the ocean.

"Ellie." She said as she walked closer to the woman.

"Charlotte. Hi." She opened her arms and Charlotte gave her a hug.

"How are you doing?" The question hung in the air for a while. How was she doing?

"I'm so exhausted I can't sleep." Ellie gave her an understanding nod, she had as well been trapped between dinosaurs.

"Are you hungry?" Charlotte nodded as the two made their way towards a kitchen. On a table there were bagels, protein bars and some fruit. Charlotte took a bagel, an apple and a glass of water.

"Thank you." Charlotte started to say as the two say down. "I wasn't sure you got our message." Ellie smiled at the young girl.

"I almost didn't. Charlie had the phone. I was lucky enough to hear 'site b' and I pieced it together."

"Well you saved us." They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes. Charlotte was trying to slow her eating in an attempt to one, not get sick and two, not look like a pig.

"If you need anyone to help get through this I'm here for you." Ellis said as she reached across the table to grasp Charlotte's hand. She swallowed and slowly nodded.

"Part of me wanted to die, to get it over with." She continued, unsure how Ellie would react. She was met by a large intake of breath as Ellie gave her a watery smile.

"I know what you mean."

"I understand why uncle Alan doesn't talk about Jurassic Park. Way too traumatic."

Ellie nodded. "What are you going to do now?"

"I was going to find my sister maybe-"

"I mean are you going back to Montana?" Ellie questioned softly.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"I mean do you want to work with them?" Charlotte first thought Ellie meant her uncle and Billy but soon realized she meant the dinosaurs.

" It's either that or my research job." She shrugged. "Both deal with dinosaurs."

"You can always take a break. No one will judge you." Charlotte smiled at the older woman, happy to be talking to someone who understood what she went through.

"Thank you Ellie. I really appreciate everything but if I don't go back to work I will just be fixating on what happened."

Ellie nodded in understanding as the two fell into another silence, this time it was filled with Charlotte's doubts.

"What did you do? After the park?" Ellie tensed up and looked out at the water.

"I went back to paleobotany. And then I became a mom." She smiled at the young girl. Charlotte nodded in understanding. Ellie has to stay strong for her son, but the terror of Jurassic Park still haunted her.


	17. Chapter 17

It was pretty much decided that Charlotte was going to spend the next few weeks recovering at her sister's house. Despite her numerous attempts to prove that she was fine enough to continue her original plan of digging in Montana her mother had blown everything out of proportion and forced her to stay safe.

The reason she had to be looked after happened two nights after being rescued. The state department had set the survivors up with multiple rooms at a local hotel while lawyers dealt with the people in charge of the island. Charlotte had gotten her own room but that didn't stop her sister from taking the pull out couch. She appreciated the protectiveness but her sister was becoming overbearing with the attention. It was all warranted though, when Charlotte woke up screaming. Charlotte didn't remember her dream but she remembered walking up. She was sweating and screaming and for a second she forgot where she was, causing her throat to constrict and her panic to worsen. Rachel had jumped from the couch and ran over to her sister.

"Charlie. You're okay. Just breath." She cooed as Charlotte attempted to take deep breaths, in and out. Rachel ran her hands softly through her sisters hair as she shook. Charlotte didn't even notice when they were met by her parents, her uncle, Greg and Billy. Her mother rushed forward and she felt trapped as both the women got closer to her but she was slowly able to calm down. Someone handed her a water and she took hesitant sips, savoring the coolness.

"I'm good." She answered in a shaking breath, looking around at the people surrounding her. She saw their concerned faces but her eyes landed on her uncle and Billy, who she had silently urged them to listen to her. She couldn't handle her protective mother and needed a person to vent to, specifically someone who understood what she was going through.

"Give us the room." Alan announced, gesturing for his sister to leave. Charlotte's mother shook her head, grabbing onto her daughters hand.

"She woke up screaming bloody murder and you want me to leave her alone." She confirmed as Billy gave Alan a worried glance.

"Sally, you should get rest. Charlotte will be fine with us."

"Alan. No." She refused to give up her daughters hand.

"Mom," Sally looked at her youngest daughter. "I need to talk to them."

"C'mon mom." Rachel said as she lifted her mother off the bed. The siblings smiled at each other while Alan and Sally sent each other weak glared. The rest left, pausing at random places in the room, turning one time to see Billy sitting on the edge of the bed, pushing hair out of her eyes.

When they were finally alone in the room both men looked over at the woman in the bed. Her faces was still flushed and tear stained but her breathing had evened out. She had an empty look in her eyes rather than the usual brightness. Though they would never admit it, she looked weak.

"I don't remember." She answered their unasked question. "I woke up screaming."

"We heard." Billy replied softly.

She smiled apologetically as she wiped at her eyes. They remained silent for a while, none of them quite knew what to say.

"I think I'm better now." She admitted, repositioning her position on the bed in a desperate attempt to seem stable. "It was just a nightmare." She said the second half quietly and even she knew that she was trying to convince herself that she wasn't in danger. "I wonder how Eric is."

"He was there eight weeks. I'm sure he had nightmares." Alan told the girl. She gave him a questioning look. "We're worried about you." He said more strongly, giving her a hard look.

"That doesn't make me feel better."

"Do you need anything?" Billy asked her, pulling her attention away from her concern for the young boy. He was still sitting close to her and she felt safe knowing that he was there but all she wanted was to escape the hotel and run as fast and as far as possible.

She smiled. "I'm okay."

"You say that anymore and that's going to be your catchphrase." Her uncle commented. She shrugged, knowing that she had used that phrase more in the last three days than in her entire life.

"Well it's true." She argued weakly as the two men exchanged glances.

"Charlotte," Her uncle started. "There's nothing to be ashamed of. It's natural to be scared."

"I shouldn't though." She argued. Her voice hardened as she got upset. "I survived. Others didn't. I'm lucky. I should be happy." She watched the two men make eye contact and she rolled her eyes.

"You guys need to stop making me feel like you're silently judging me." Alan smiled and reached down to kiss the top of her head.

"I'm going to calm down your mom. You kids talk." Charlotte watched as her uncle left the room leaving her with the younger man.

"What?" She shook her head in part confusion, part disbelief. "Have you had a nightmare?" She asked.

"Not really. I just keep getting flashes of the pterosaurs diving towards me when I see something out of the corner of my eye." She winced as tears started to reform in her eyes. She noticed that Billy looked stoic and distant. The past few days she had been so focused on her trauma and avoiding her family she hadn't really considered that her other companions were feeling the affects too.

"That must be terrifying." She responded as she tried to even her breathing. " I can't imagine how that must have felt." She sounded hollow, even to herself. Why was it so difficult for her to sound sincere?

"I thought I was going to die." He admitted, finally looking her in the eyes. "I was ready to die."

She didn't know what to say to him. Her mouth opened in surprise. She had also felt the readiness of death and on the island she had come to the conclusion that she wouldn't make it out. But, hearing that thought come from someone else made her realize how dire their situation was.

"I'm so weak." She cried out. Here she was, acting like she was validated in her terrors when Billy  
literally almost died. She was never close to actual death. "I've been so focused on me I haven't even thought about you."

He smirked at her as she noticed what she said. "I meant I've been so focused on my own fears I didn't consider you or my uncle. Or the Kirby's."

He shook his head. "It's okay to be selfish in this situation. I haven't thought about the Kirby's either." He said it in a joking manner but Charlotte could only bring herself to smile. The implication that her and her uncle where more important than a young kid and his parents weighed down on her. Of course she understood. Billy was close to Alan and herself. The Kirby's had just gotten them in a bad situation.

"It'll be okay." She smiled at Billy as he ran his thumb over the hand he was holding. "What are you going to do when we get back?"

She inhaled. " I am not sure. I want to go back to Montana. But my mom wants me to stay with her." She cringed. "It's kind of up in the air. What about you?"

He shrugged. "Probably back to the dig. I think I'll probably see my parents before though, they have no idea what happened."

"You haven't called them?" She questioned, surprised. She knew how close he was with them. "We've been here for," she looked at the clock. "14 hours."

"I know." He laughed. "I don't know how to tell them. My moms just as," He made a strange signal with his hands but Charlotte knew what her meant. His mother was as obsessive as hers. "She's great though."

"Well start by saying, 'I'm alive' then go from there." She joked.

"Trust me, she's heard worse."

Charlotte gave him a confused look but before she could question him she started to yawn.

"I'm going to let you rest." He slowly got up from the bed as she pulled the covers up, setting her glass aside.

"Billy?" She shouted as he reached the door.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you." He smiled as he turned off the light leaving Charlotte in the darkness. By the time she was able to drift off to sleep she wasn't scared she felt free.


	18. Chapter 18

Charlotte didn't know what to expect from the trial but she wasn't sure if what she experienced was the norm. She thought she'd be in a large courtroom with supporters of the park and those against it. she also anticipated it to be a filmed event. Granted what she believed the trial would be like was solely based on television programs, she still imagined some overlap. She imagined lots of tears and questions. Instead a lawyer asked for her to recall what happened in a bored tone as another woman in a suit wrote down everything that was said. How would the experience have been better? That was a confusing question. How could this have been handled better? Less dinosaurs and more people. Would you show your support for Isla Sorna and Isla Nublar to continue genetic work? No. To Charlotte all her answers were a given and she didn't want to answer any more.

The overall questioning took a couple hours but Charlotte barely dealt with the crowds when leaving the courthouse. She had imagined that her mother had a part in that, refusing for her face to be seen by the world. According to her uncle this trial was a lot less publicized than the last one, which involved John Hammond himself as well as two very young kids and the ethical question of the park. Despite the privacy of their trial that didn't stop around a dozen interviews from happening. They were short though and Billy answered most of the questions. The interviewers loved him and his ability to make the events seem less terrifying and more thrilling. Alan always looked angry during the interviews and acted as a foil to Charlotte's more overwhelmed nature.

Charlotte tugged at the red dress her sister had picked out for her to wear on the morning of the last interview. The next day she's be on a plane to Colorado where she'd be going to stay with her sister and Greg. According to Rachel, she had her friend decorate a room for Charlotte and gotten her a fish. Charlotte was partly excited, but only for the new pet, though she knew her excitement was partially due to her expectation of a relaxing trip. She could almost make herself believe it was a vacation however, the idea of having someone constantly watching over her seemed unnecessary but it was either stay with her sister or her mother and she picked the lesser of two evils. After a few calls her mother had set up weekly therapy appointments for her daughter near Rachel's house, noticing her reserved behavior and her experienced trauma. "It's a good idea," her mother argued. "even if it's just to talk.'

"I'm not anti therapy. I've been going since I was in high school. I'm anti moving in with my sister instead of going to my actual job." Rachel shouted back. It was true. She was a huge advocate for mental health, despite her family's lack of acknowledgement for the issue. And she had nothing against seeking medical help, especially after what she had just gone through.

"It's a glorified internship at most." Her mother retaliated. "You're not getting paid." Charlotte rolled her eyes and tugged at her straightened hair.

"I'm getting life experience mom. It's worth it."

"I'm sure it is. Spend all day with your uncle and a bunch of antisocial dinosaur nerds." Her mother complained as she started packing away her purse.

"Time for the interview." Rachel popped her head into a room where Charlotte and Sally stood in an aggressive silence. "Who died?" Charlotte glared as she walked past her sister, right into Billy.

"Hey." He said as his gaze focused on her. "You changed your hair."

"Observant." She responded. "Nice jacket."

"You look nice. Your hairs not puffy." He held his hands motioning how frizzy her hair normally appeared

"It's frizzy and it's not that bad." She lightly snapped as they stared walking. "What about the dress? Is it too much?" She gave a look of disgust at her friend.

"No." He quickly answered. "It looks really nice."

"Charlotte. Billy." They turned to see Alan walking towards them.

"What happened to you?"He asked Charlotte as she glared at a laughing Billy. " Do I look bad?" She asked confused. The men looked at each other again, annoying her more.

"You just look different." They were soon called up on the stage where a blonde, peppy host was posting to where they would sit. Like usual Charlotte was positioned in the middle with her uncle on her right and Billy on her left.

"Thank you for coming," The interviewer, Alyson, welcomed. "As I understand this is your last interview before going home. Finally, right?" She smiled looking from guest to guest. They all gave her polite nods with small smiles.

"Well, Charlotte you look lovely today. Any special occasion." Charlotte, at first surprised by the question, sent quick glares to the two men surrounding her who had critiqued her appearance.

"My mother and sister thought I should get dressed up since according to them I look like I've worn the same thing for a week." Alyson laughed quickly telling her she always looked sharp.

"Well you look amazing. Now Billy, tell me after finding out you're an adventurer I'm dying to know, what has been your favorite destination?"

Half an hour later they were done with the questioning. The questions were pretty standard and despite them being asked the same things a dozen times, each interviewer had acted just as excited. Like the ones before the interview had ended with Alyson questioning Alan,yet again, on the original park and then asking the group if given the chance, in a safe environment, they'd go back. They had always replied with "no". Charlotte shook her head but stopped. Would she really refuse to go back?

"You were great sweetie!" Charlotte heard her mother as she walked back stage. She was met with a large hug and smile. "See, the interviewer said you looked gorgeous."

"Mom." She said, confused with her mothers shift in attitude and irritated with the seemingly importance of appearance.

"What? You need more confidence." Charlotte noticed Billy off to the side, his mother holding onto his arm as his father talked to him. He had called his parents after their conversation and they had immediately flown out. When they arrived there had been screams of joy and tears. Charlotte smiled at the scene and turned back to her own mother who had started talking to Rachel and Greg about some florals she wanted at the wedding.

"Hey." She looked over to see that Billy was no longer standing with his parents and had made his way over to her.

"Hey." She has luckily been able to escape her family as her mother ran off with her stepfather after leaving Rachel and her sister was preoccupied talking to the Kirby's, who had come to the interview to give the three a gift for saving them. The gift turned out to be store credit and a pie but it eased Charlotte's conscious when she was able to talk to Eric to make sure he was doing okay.

"Let's go out."

"Now?" She looked at the man.

"Why not? You leave tomorrow and I probably won't see you till next year. Let's go out."

"I plan to go back to Montana." She replied.

"When?"

"As soon as I can move out with my sister or my mom following me."

She rolled her eyes.

"You are being dramatic." He lifted his eyebrows at her. "But fine. And I'm definitely coming back to Montana."

"Sure." He said as he grabbed her hand and lead her outside the building.

"Where are we going?" She questioned before being shushed.

"The adventures in the journey."

The adventure ended up being a smelly cab, paparazzi taking pictures and a broken heel, none of which lessened Charlotte's excitement for the night. For the first time in a long time she felt like a regular person. She went from hopeless museum worker to "glorified intern" to dinosaur food to world celebrity and now, just a regular girl.


	19. Chapter 19

"Where are we going?" Charlotte tried to get the attention of Billy, who was having difficulty flagging down a taxi.

"Uh," he smiled as a car pulled over. "Its a surprise." She rolled her eyes as he opened the door, sliding in as he motioned for her to do so.

He went around to the driver side, whispering something to the driver as Charlotte strained her ears to hear him.

He quickly got into the car and grinned at her as she gave him an unimpressed look.

"Do you know where we're going?" She asked in a jokingly concerned manner as they drove further from the tv station.

She was met with a happy shrug as she settled into the back seat.

They ended up going to a local park, after frantically knocking on a deli that was closing its doors.

"Thank you." Billy exclaimed as the owner begrudingly opened the doors and let the two rummage through some chips and soda's.

"I'm sorry." Charlotte gave him a sympathetic smile as the doors were once again closed in their face.

"What restaurant closes at 6:30?" Billy questioned as they walked down the street with sandwiches in their hands. Charlotte shrugged as she kicked at a loose pebble.

"It was a family owned sandwich shop. They probably have a family dinner to go to."

"Are you okay with eating in grass in complete darkness?"

Charlotte laughed but nodded, piecing together what the evening would be. "It was my favorite way to eat dinner when I was a kid." She joked eliciting a laugh from her partner.

They settled on a clearing under a light post. Charlotte found it difficult to sit in her dress but eventually found a way that she could endure. The city was almost completely quiet and Charlotte assumed that to someone else it would have seemed almost scary to be in the dark on a quiet street. Fortunately for Charlotte she had gotten caught in the dark many times and found the silentness comforting.

"Cheers. To surviving Jurassic Park." They raised their drinks, happy to be off the island.

By the time the duo finally made their way back to the hotel they both assumed that all the interviewers and photographers would have left. However that wasn't the case and as soon as they entered the hotel lobby dozens of media men were snapping photos. "Run." Charlotte heard as Billy grabbed her hand.

"Ow!" She exclaimed as one of her feet collapsed. Looking back at her was the remnant of her high heel. "This was Rachel's." She complained as they ran through the halls.

"Oh. This is me." Charlotte slowed in front of her hotel room.

"Right." Charlotte turned to face her companion who stood just a few inches from her. She swallowed and laughed, nearly tripping over her feet.

"I need to sleep. Big day tomorrow." She nodded along smiling.

"Right." Billy repeated as he looked at her.

"Goodnight." Neither made a move away until a drunk couple made their way between them, stumbling into the wall smelling of stale drinks and vomit.

"Definitely time for bed."

"Yep." Billy agreed and they both serrated, Charlotte quickly unlocked the door to her room, shutting it quietly.

She stumbled in, maybe a little too tipsy, and laughed at the simplicity of her dilemma. She liked someone and she was moving away. It wasn't like she was stuck on an island and almost died or the fact that she had no job, no friends and a seemingly meaningless future. No. The only thing she could focus on was her growing feelings for her uncle's young assistant.

"Where were you?" Rachel appeared in front of her sister. "Why are you laughing?"

"Life is funny." Charlotte responded sobering up. "Yeah. It's funny."

"Okay." Rachel responded slowly. "But where were you?"

"Out." She threw off her shoes and headed to the bathroom to change.

She left the bathroom to see her sisters scowling face. She just smiled in response and laughed again.

"Weird." Rachel muttered as she went back to the pullout couch. "Make sure you're packed."

"Got it." Charlotte lifted up a thumbs up but stayed where she was standing.

"You're worrying me Charlie. What is going on? You've never been drunk."

She shook her head, clearing her thoughts. "I'm not drunk. I'm not quite ready to be back in the real world."

"What do you mean?"

"The real world." She recited, stumbling as she walked around. "Where I have to find a job and pay bills."

"Welcome to adulthood." Rachel replied unimpressed with her sister's scatterbrain.

Charlotte sighed, sitting down on her bed. To be honest she was still lucid enough to have a normal conversation but the desire to feel fuzzy was too great so she went along with the warm ness.

"Before the island I hadn't told mom what was going on in my life for years." Rachel nodded, urging her sister to continue. "I just felt like without her micromanaging me I was less of a failure. I had no pressure. Now I'm going to be under constant watch. I feel trapped."

"To be fair she's always worried about you." Rachel replied, a cold glare on her face.

Charlotte winced. "I know." She said regrettably.

Neither of the sisters talked for a while. Charlotte had replayed everything she had said to her sister, realizing how childish it all was. She shouldn't have avoided alll her problems.

"I'm going to sleep."

"Charlie?"

"Yeah." Charlotte yawned.

"You're going to be fine." Charlotte smiled in the darkness, soon falling into a deep sleep.

The next morning Charlotte was dragged out of bed and rushed down to the breakfast area.

"You need to eat." Her mother urged as she stuffed fruit and a muffin onto her plate.

"I'm eating a bagel. And cake, apparently." She motioned to a small piece of marble cake on her plate.

Rachel snorted into her cup of coffee as Charlotte smiled.

"Mind if we join you." Charlotte froze as she looked up at the man who spoke, waving at her uncle and then turning to his companion.

"Hi Billy." She said quietly. She felt her face get red as he moved to sit next to her, smiling and slightly nudging her side.

"When do you leave?" He asked her.

"Our flights at 12:55 so I think right after breakfast." He nodded in recognition

The rest of breakfast was a tense affair. Charlotte's mother was upset with her and Alan leading to very threatening conversations. On top of that Rachel kept questioning Billy about where he had gone the night before, mentioning that her sister too was absent from dinner.

"Rachel." Her mother warned, pointed eyes at her blonde daughter who held her fiancés hand.

"Charlotte came home drunk. She would only do that if she was influenced by someone else." Rachel pushed.

"I'm right here."

"Fine," Rachel snarked. "Then where were you last night."

"We went to a very popular family owned deli." Charlotte replied. "Right Billy?"

He nodded.

"No bars?" Rachel questioned as she looked confused between the two.

"Just a liquor store and three ice cream sandwiches."

"Uncle Alan, are you okay?" Charlotte watched as her uncle looked up from the eggs her had been pushing around his plate, giving her a small smile with no reply.

Immediately after breakfast Sally pushed her two daughters towards the taxi that would take them to the airport.

"You don't want to be late." She said pointedly towards Rachel who was looking through her carry on. Greg stood next to her holding the tickets while Charlotte stood by her uncle and Billy.

"Bye kid." Alan hugged his niece. "Come back to Montana soon." He squeezed her shoulder as he walked towards her sister.

She turned to face Billy. "I uh will come back to Montana. I guess I just need to figure some things out."

"Yep." He agreed. "i guess I do too."

"Like what?" Charlotte smiled.

"I think I've seen enough dinosaurs to last a lifetime." He confessed noticing Charlotte's smile drop and her expression become replaced by confusion.

"Really?"

"Nah. Just maybe a break."

The relapsed into silence as Rachel called for her sister.

"I guess this is goodbye for now." Billy told her as she nodded in agreement.

"For now." She wrapped her arms around his neck in a tight hug, willing herself not to cry. "Thank you." She whispered as she broke away, a watery smile on her lips. She waved slowly as she stepped into the taxi and continued to wave until she could no longer see him.


End file.
